


summertime madness

by brightbluebike



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: F/F, imagine the same tegan and annalise but in a romcom context, light mentions of drug abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 43,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27310849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightbluebike/pseuds/brightbluebike
Summary: It's two years after the shooting.Annalise has set up a new life for herself in San Francisco, where things still don't go as smooth as she'd hoped. It seems like she just attracts drama and disaster wherever she goes.To get away from this all, she books herself a vacation.But she doesn't get to relax when an old friend shows up at the poolside...
Relationships: Annalise Keating/Tegan Price
Comments: 135
Kudos: 134





	1. The Check-In

**Author's Note:**

> this story takes place after the end of the show, so spoiler alert if you haven't finished!
> 
> I LOVE Annalise and Tegan on the show, but I wanted to write a story that feels a bit more lighthearted, so enjoy :)
> 
> If you have any comments or ideas, please leave them down below! Also, English is not my first language so if you find any errors in spelling or grammar, feel free to correct me.

"I'm sorry... What did you say your last name was?"

"Harkness," she repeated, a little louder this time. "Should I type it in myself?!"

The receptionist of Royal Cancun Beach Resort flashed her a smile nearly as fake as his almost blinding white teeth. "No need for a hurry, miss Harkness. You are here to relax, yeah?"

Annalise sighed deeply. She had just landed from a five-hour flight that had taken twice as long because of a huge delay. On top of that, there had been a mix-up with her plane ticket so she had lost her first class seat, which resulted in her being stuck between a loudly snoring old white man and a metalhead who spent most of the flight lipsynching to the screaming over his headphones. The stress from the last few weeks might have affected her mood a bit, too. Her head hurt, she felt like her breath stunk and all she wanted at that moment was to lay in bed and sleep for three days. _Not_ this Mexican Ken doll, or, as his name tag said, 'Luis,' taking a full hour to complete her check in.

Luis was whistling along with the music on the radio as he took his time to type in her information. He clicked his tongue. "The Queen's suite, huh?" He looked up at her, smiling even wider and, if possible, faker than before. "Could have guessed that."

After what felt like a decade, he handed her a key and passed her the bowl of mints that stood on the corner of his desk. He pulled a smug look. "You need one."

Annalise grasped her key from his desk and didn't even bother to look him in the eyes.

"Enjoy your stay, miss Harkness."

"Fuck you," she whispered under her breath. She could feel his eyes following her as she made her way over to the elevator. Oh, he'd heard her. And oh, not a single part of her gave a shit.

**\- Three hours later -**

"No, Mila, that's not yours!"

Naomi grabbed the iPhone from her daughter's hands and gave it back to its owner.

"I'm sorry, Tegan... She has been stealing every phone she can get her hands on since a few weeks." she apologized, ignoring the immediate crying fit her toddler was throwing.

Mila tried reaching for Tegan's phone once again. Her crying became even louder when she realized how bad her chances of winning it back were.

Tegan smiled at her friend and opened the Bubble Shooter game on her phone. Mila had been shooting bubbles for a bit on the plane and during the short ride to the hotel, and it proved to be a good excuse not to answer her co-partner's texts when her phone was occupied by a three-year-old. "That's okay. There's a lot of money in that business!"

Naomi couldn't surpress a chuckle as Tegan handed Mila her phone back. "There you go, you little devil."

Mila's eyes lit up and she stopped screaming right away. "Thanks aunt Tegan!" she exclaimed, her usual lisp ever so clear.

Tegan sat back down next to Naomi and crossed her legs, her foot tapping to the rhythm of the music that was playing. She looked around the lobby of the hotel and felt herself smiling. She had been looking forward to this moment - from now on she had two weeks to do whatever she wanted. No clients, no co-partners, no prosecutors... Just the beach, the ocean and a whole lot of sunshine.

Naomi's hand in hers shook her from her thoughts. "Thanks for taking us here, Tee. It really means so much to me."

"It really is my pleasure. Now, this is the last time you're thanking me, alright? You deserve it, so just enjoy." She winked at the blonde and squeezed her hand.

"Next!"

Tegan stood up and let go of her friend's hand. "That's us. I'll be right back."

She made her way over to the desk and laid out her booking information. "Hi there!"

A boy with teeth as white as pearls smiled up at her as he gathered her papers from the counter. "Welcome, miss... Price." He let his eyes wander down and Tegan could clearly see him checking out her chest for a full moment.

She cleared her throat and pulled up her blouse a bit more. "I've booked a family room. Is it possible to have it facing the ocean?"

The receptionist didn't seem to mind that she caught him staring and brought out his smile again. "I'll do my best for you."

He started typing and clicking at the screen, but he clearly took his time. "Where is your husband and family?"

Tegan could feel herself getting annoyed and let out a sigh. "My family is right outside. Can we please get our keys now? We're very tired."

"Ah, I see. I'll do my best for you." The young man turned to his computer once more and clicked a few buttons. Then he took another break and faced the latina in front of him. "So... No husband, then?"

Tegan rolled her eyes and grasped her papers back from his desk. "If you don't give me our keys, I'll just go to the hotel next door."

That seemed to grab the attention of an older man sitting behind his younger employee. He quickly made his way over and handed Tegan two keycards. "Please excuse Luis here, this is his first day. Enjoy your stay and please let us know if there's anything we can do for you!"

Tegan nodded and turned around to walk back to Naomi and Mila. She really hoped this was the last time she'd have to feel any type of negative way for the next two weeks.

She took her suitcase and smiled wide at her company. "Alright, girls, let's have some fun."


	2. The volleyball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annalise goes to the beach to start her trip with a bath in the sun.
> 
> But she is not the only one with that plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to just put the second chapter up already since it's finished anyway. I have another chapter ready, but the rest is still in the making so that one will be launched into the world a little later.
> 
> Enjoy and please tell me what you think!

Annalise laid down on her stretcher. It wasn't very comfortable, but she felt at ease nonetheless. The sounds of the ocean crashing on to the beach and the laughing children somewhere in the background calmed her mind. Her skin was glowing from the freshly applied sunscreen and she was glad she'd decided to go with her natural hair today.

That morning, she had packed her beach bag and intended to put the only book she brought with her in it. She looked forward to the time she'd have to read this vacation. But when she looked at the cover of Uncle Tom's Cabin, an uneasy feeling washed over her. How was she supposed to relax reading a book that she'd read many times already, and that was not light on her heart in any way, shape or form? It was one of the few fiction books she owned, since she didn't have much time to read anything that was not a book of law, and she had added it to her suitcase without thinking. At that moment, being able to relax with any book seemed like a dream. But now, she felt like reading this would not make her relax at all.

Hence it did not take her long to end up in the hotel's small library. They did not have a lot, but since Annalise didn't know what type of book she even liked reading, that was not a problem.

Her eyes scrolled over the covers when one title stood out to her.

She took the book from the shelf. _"Carol,"_ it said, and Annalise smiled subconsiously. This was Eve's favorite book. She had persuaded Annalise to read it for years in college, but she had always refused. Maybe it had been her internalized homophobia, or maybe she was too stubborn to read anything she hadn't picked out for herself, but both those problems were gone now.

So when she laid there on her stretcher, her sand-colored short caftan dress slightly flowing in the breeze, she couldn't wait to open her newly found treasure and start reading.

It wasn't long before the story absorbed her. Even though it didn't feel anything like christmas on this Mexican beach, she welcomed the images of snowy New York streets and shops filled with christmas ornaments warmly.

She was pulled from Therese and Carol's world abruptly when she felt something hit her knee. Not one to get startled easily, she put the book down and inspected her surroundings.

"Oh, sorry!" She heard from a distance. A very tall blonde woman in a bathing suit was walking her way.

That's when Annalise saw the volleyball next to her stretcher. "Oh... That's alright." She stood up and threw the ball back at the other woman.

"Thanks!" She exclaimed, before turning around and jogging back to the volleyballfield a short distance away.

Annalise's eyes followed her while she sat back down. That woman was gorgeous.

She got back to her fellow beachball players and handed the ball to a much shorter woman. Damn, Annalise thought to herself. If the blonde woman was beautiful, then this woman was a goddess. She had dark, curly hair that flowed just over her shoulders and her dark blue playsuit hugged her body in all the right ways.

Annalise couldn't look away as she threw the ball up high in the air and hit it over the net. The two men at the other side hit it back right away, which resulted in quite a long rally. 

Annalise found herself extremely entertained by the match - even though she wasn't a big sports fan at all. The sand made for a nice special effect everytime the dark haired woman dove to the ground to save it at the last moment. They were actually quite good.

When the ball finally hit the ground at the women's side, the latina yelled out in frustration. That was also when Annalise noticed a little girl in between the two women.

She ran towards the ball and tried to kick it back, but it only moved a few centimetres. The darker skinned woman then picked up the ball and patted the girl's head. She said something to her and then passed it to her teammate.

When she looked past the blonde woman, Annalise quickly teared her eyes away. Did she just get caught staring? Her sunglasses did little to hide the fact that she had completely discarded Carol and had treated her in for the woman in front of her.

She picked up her book from her lap and pretended to be focused on the text again. It was only after a few minutes that she dared to look over at the volleyball field once more.

The two men had left and the women were playing catch with the little girl now. They were all laughing loudly as the two woman did a little victory dance when they caught the ball every time. Annalise smiled when she heard the girl laugh so wholeheartedly.

"Good job, Mila!", the dark haired woman exclaimed, and Annalise's heart skipped a beat. That voice sounded very familiar. She felt her blood rushing and all sorts of thoughts were racing through her head. Did she know Annalise was here? Had she been looking for her? What if she was angry with her? But... it couldn't be... Could it?

At that moment ball was thrown just a little too far off and it was coming towards the game's only spectator. Annalise panicked and held the book in front of her face again. She tried to get her heartbeat to slow down, but she could still feal it beating in her chest.

It can't be her, she told herself. What would be the chance of them being in a different country at the same time, in a place where no one would have expected either of them to ever visit? But then...

"Annalise?"

She flinched. Maybe if she just repositioned her book a bit...

"Annalise, is that you?", the voice sounded closer now.

A shadow fell over her hands at the latina stood at the top of her stretcher now. There was no denying it anymore.

She lowered her book and finally looked at the woman in front of her. Her breath stuck in her throat when she saw her face - she looked absolutely perplexed. There was no emotion there, just confusion. She looked like she was looking at a ghost.

"Hi, Tegan."


	3. The Greeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk to each other!!!

She lowered her book and finally looked at the woman in front of her. Her breath stuck in her throat when she saw her face - she looked absolutely perplexed. There was no emotion there, just confusion. She looked like she was looking at a ghost.

"Hi, Tegan."

Tegan dropped the ball she had just picked up on the ground again and stood absolutely still for a second.

This couldn't be true.

She had given up the hope of seeing Annalise again about a year ago. After Bonnie and Frank were buried, Annalise had left town. She had not told anyone where she was going and her phone was turned off.

Tegan had understood it, at first, she was willing to give her the time she needed to grieve, but as the months went by it became more and more clear that she was not going to come back. Tegan had tried to keep in contact with Annalise's family, hoping to find out where she was, but after Ophelia had passed away this proved harder than she thought. Celestine's grief and her job was taking up most of her time and Mac Harkness had left Memphis shortly after Ophelia's passing.

Every other day, Tegan called Annalise to see if she had turned on her phone again. It always went straight to voicemail. Tegan was not so desperate that she wanted to fill up her mailbox, so she never left her any.

But when she had just been fired from C&G (or rather, she was forced to quit) because of her "lack of focus", she had downed six glasses of gin and then called her former best friend to empty her heart. She had started with crying, then yelling, cussing, and finally all she wanted to do was beg for her friend to come back. "Please, Annalise, I need you...", she had cried into her phone, just before ending the voicemail and crying herself to sleep.

A few days later, she tried calling again. Maybe she had listened to Tegan's desperate message and decided to turn on her phone for once.

Instead, she was met with a robotic voice telling her that "this number is no longer in service."

Tegan had felt so offended and angry that she had smashed her own phone against the wall. How dare Annalise do this to her?! She was the one that was always there for her, even when taking the other side would have been way better for Tegan herself. She had loved her through it all and had never asked for anything in return, and _this_ was how Annalise thanks her?

All the love she'd ever felt for her former colleague had easily been transformed into hatred in the same amount.

Tegan was heartbroken.

That was the moment she decided to change her ways. The energy she used to put into trying to find Annalise, pining after her and then hating her, could be used way better.

It was not long after that she had joined a new firm. She got herself a partner position at Darren and Rickson. She was highly respected there and, unlike at Caplan and Gold, women of colour were no exception in the firm. It felt like things had finally fallen into place again.

When she saw Annalise's name appear on the news months later, stating that the lawyer had started her own firm on the East Coast, she just sighed in relief. That meant she was never coming back, and Tegan was glad about it.

She could do just fine without Annalise, she'd proved it time after time. She knew it would be hard to love anyone after being hurt so bad by both Cora and her, but being single for a while had done a lot of good to her confidence.

In the months following, Tegan had sometimes wondered how the other lawyer was doing. On one tipsy occasion, she had even looked her up on Facebook. She had not found her, of course, since Annalise didn't use any social media, but she had found some posts about her from other people. One picture of her and a young boy - he looked about twelve years old - had grabbed her attention. "Thank you so much Annalise", read the caption.

Tegan did some more research on the matter and found out that Annalise had specialized in cases that involved childcare. She had fought to take the licenses of foster parents who were neglecting their children, she had kept fathers and mothers of young children out of jail and she had even arranged for a foster home that was about to be shut down to receive extra funding.

Tegan would have been lying if she said she wasn't impressed. It seemed like the infamous Annalise Keating had finally turned her life around.

This was also exactly why Tegan didn't think she would ever see the woman again. The chances of her coming back to visit were second to none.

She didn't feel the need to reach out to her anymore either, and judging Annalise's lack of contact towards her, that feeling was probably mutual.

They had just grown apart and Tegan was completely over her. Or so she had always thought.

_Until now._

"Wow..." she muttered. "You... H-how..."

Annalise took her sunglasses off and showed her a soft, uncertain smile.

"How are you?", Tegan finally managed to get out. She still didn't really know how she felt about seeing her old friend again, but she didn't want to make this moment any more awkward by staying silent.

"I'm fine. And you? You look..." Her eyes shortly ran over the latina's body before she looked her in the eyes again. "Good."

"Y-yeah," Tegan sputtered. She ran her hand through her hair and chuckled awkardly. "I'm-"

"Tegan!" She turned around to see Naomi walking towards her with Mila on her arm. Annalise's eyes followed hers and she sat up a little straighter.

"Oh, sorry! Ehm, Annalise, these are Naomi and Mila, my-"

"What's taking you so long?", Naomi interrupted her as she went to stand next to Tegan. She looked over at Annalise. "Do you two know each other?"

Mila held out her hands to Tegan and tried to tug at her hair. "Tee tee!" 

Tegan absentmindedly took her from Naomi's arms while she looked at her former friend and shrugged lightly. "We used to." She picked up the volleyball, holding it under her left arm while holding Mila with her right. "Naomi, this is Annalise Keating."

Naomi's mouth fell open for a second, but she had the decency to close it right away. "Annalise Keating... You mean _the_ Annalise Kea-"

"It's Harkness now, actually," Annalise interrupted.

Tegan raised her eyebrows, not knowing whether she had the right to ask further but also not knowing if the actually wanted to. And if she did, this was definitely not the right time.

Meanwhile, Mila was curling her hair around her finger and having a conversation with herself. 

The two former colleagues looked each other in the eye and Tegan suddenly felt a chill running down her back. This woman had truly hurt her more than anyone ever had.

Yet here she stood, as if nothing had ever happened between them, thinking the exact same thing she'd thought when she had first spotted her in Caplan and Gold. 

_She's still hot._

She quickly pushed that thought away and cleared her throat.

"Well, anyway," she patted Mila's nose and then turned to Naomi again, "I think we are going to have some lunch." Her tone made it clear enough that there was no way to say no to that statement.

Naomi nodded absently, still staring at the woman on the stretcher.

"Oh... Well I guess I'll see you around? Maybe we could-" Annalise tried, but Mila didn't let her finish.

"Mom, I'm hungry!" Annalise raised her eyebrows at that. Tegan had never wanted to be a mom.

The shorter woman nodded and smiled lightly, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, who knows."

Her thoughts wandered off to all the lonely, long days she had spent trying to find the woman who was now sitting right in front of her. Why was she making small talk with her right now? She could have easily acted like she didn't recognize her when she saw her hiding behind her book. Maybe that would've been better.

"Well," she sighed. "We should get going."

"Bye, Annalise," Naomi waved her goodbye while she followed Tegan, who striked up a conversation with Mila as they walked away. Tegan really tried to focus on what the little girl was saying, but she couldn't stop her mind from racing.

What on _earth_ had just happened?


	4. The Karaoke Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annalise meets a man and Tegan gets her groove on.

Annalise sat down at one of the few free bar stools, sparkling water in her hand. No one at the hotel bar was paying any attention to her and she could get into that. There was a karaoke night going on, which was probably why there were so many people there. She had read about the hotel being famous for it's saturday night karaoke sessions.

While she was watching the people around her getting drunk and belting "Sweet Caroline" in the wrong key, her thoughts wandered off to the events earlier that day. She still couldn't wrap her head around Tegan being here.

If she was honest with herself, she liked seeing her again. Sure, it left her feeling guilty and embarassed and part of her wished the beach had been made of quicksand that she could have disappeared in, but another, bigger part of herself was happy to see Tegan enjoying life. This woman had always been loyal and kind to her, so there was no need for envy.

Except... Seeing Tegan had also made her feel _other things._ Especially seeing her with another woman and a kid on her arm.

The girl looked too old to be Tegan's biological child - or she must have started raising a baby outside Annalise's knowledge when they were still working on her case, which she considered higly unlikely. She could have adopted her, though, or maybe it was Naomi's child and they were raising her together.

Annalise didn't really know how to feel about it. She did think she wanted to see Tegan again, though. This was her chance to try to make up for one of her biggest regrets - if Tegan would let her, of course. She didn't exactly have an army of friends, so an extra friend wouldn't hurt.

"This seat taken?"

She was shaken from her thoughts by a tall man who was pointing to the stool next to her. His dark hair was starting to grey and his bright green eyes were a nice contrast to his tanned skin.

"No, go ahead," she smiled at him.

"Ah, great." He set his drink on the bar in front of them and held out his hand. "I'm Carlos."

Annalise looked at his hand and thought about what it would mean to shake it. She could guess Carlos' intentions from the look on his face, but she was just trying to decide what her own were. She was here to enjoy herself, though. She could maybe even get a few free virgin cocktails out of this deal.

"Annalise," she said while she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Carlos."

The evening that followed was more pleasant than she had initially expected. Carlos turned out to be a really nice guy. He was a dentist and he had worked at the hotel during his teenage years, so he came back there every summer to hang out with his former colleagues. He seemed genuinely interested in her and he made her laugh out loud several times. She hadn't even noticed that they had both moved closer to each other on their seats, making their knees touch with every move. Right when he placed his hand on her thigh and started to lean in some more, the bar's host made an announcement.

"Alright alright, ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the next singer. Next up is... Tegan! Get over here, Tegan! Let's give her a nice round of applause!"

Annalise stopped speaking mid-sentence when she heard that name and looked around the room for the short latina. This was something she definitely wanted to see.

Carlos looked at her in confusion and snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention. "Annalise?"

She apologized and tried to focus on the conversation that Carlos had happily taken over by talking about his love for iguanas, but she just couldn't look away when she saw a figure step on stage.

Carlos saw her look away and followed her gaze. "You know her?"

"Yeah..." Annalise answered under her breath, not sure if it was even true. She was no longer paying any attention to her male companion, though.

The intro to _Bills, Bills, Bills_ by Destiny's Child was started and Annalise couldn't surpress a smile. This was gonna be good.

Tegan grabbed the mic with from the stand and started getting in the mood by moving with the intro music. She exuded confidence.

When she started singing, Annalise could not believe her ears. She didn't know Tegan could do that! Her voice was smooth and warm and her timing was impeccable. Annalise was mesmerized. She watched the woman perform with her mouth half open. It had always been clear that Tegan could dance, but this was something else.

The audience loved it and was chanting along to the choruses in the song. They were dancing with her and cheering her on when she got to the higher parts and even did some of the runs. 

The applause she received in the end was the loudest of the evening and Annalise could clearly see Tegan got a kick out of it. Her smile was twice as bright as the stagelights.

She herself was too impressed, almost enchanted, by her former friend to do more than a preoccupied clap, but the rest of the audience gladly made up for it.

She quickly excused herself with Carlos and made her way to the toilets. It wasn't fair to him that she prioritized watching a woman she hadn't spoken to in two years over him, she knew that, but she just couldn't help it.

She splashed some water in her face and looked at herself in the mirror.

She really wanted to talk to Tegan. Seeing her on that stage had reminded her how powerful the latina was, and how much she missed having someone like her in her life. It was selfish to think like that, she knew it, but she could at least try to make up for her mistakes. Maybe one could even call it personal growth?

The door to the bathroom flew open and in walked the woman who had just sang the roof of the house. The huge smile she carried when she came through the door fell when she saw who stood before her.

Their eyes found each other through their reflections. "Hey," they both said, almost simultaneously. Neither woman was sure how to behave around the other. They both stood still, looking at each other for a couple of seconds, before Annalise realised she had water dripping down her face that was starting to fall on her shirt.

She reached for a paper towel and cleared her throat. "You were amazing up there," she finally dared to break the silence.

Tegan smiled lightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks. I didn't know you were here."

Annalise didn't know how to answer that, so she just looked at the other woman, who looked like she didn't know what to do, either.

"I have to, ehm..." Tegan nodded to the toilet stalls, which made Annalise realise she was standing in her way.

"Oh! Sorry." She stepped aside and let her through. She had to ask her now, or she might not get the chance later.

"Tegan?" She asked, just before the shorter woman had closed the door.

Tegan sighed. "Yes?" She held the door open a bit more and looked at Annalise expectantly, but the look on her face also said she really wanted this conversation to be over.

"Do you want to... I mean- I would really like to have a drink with you."

Tegan frowned. This was not what she had expected Annalise to say.

She looked puzzled while she was thinking about what her next words should be. "So... first you befriend me, make me believe you're as loyal to me as I am to you..."

Annalise bit her lip and faced the ground. She could have seen this coming.

"Then you leave me without a word, you don't tell me where you're going or if you're _ever_ coming back," Tegan continued, "Then you _don't_ come back and I find out you've moved to the other side of the country..." She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. "And now you're asking me to get a _drink_ with you?!"

Annalise sighed. She knew Tegan was right - she shouldn't have asked her like this. "No, I didn't mean-"

"I have to pee, Annalise," Tegan finished the conversation.

She closed the stalldoor with a loud thud and locked it immediately.

Annalise turned to the mirror once again. She could have seen this coming. Hell, she knew that she deserved this, but she still felt a little defeated.

Just when she laid her hand on the door handle to get out of the bathroom, she heard Tegan's stall open again.

The latina poked her head out. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Tomorrow, nine o'clock. I'll meet you at breakfast."


	5. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet for breakfast but Tegan's not hungry.

The next morning, Tegan woke by someone pulling at her covers. She heard a soft grunt and then she felt a weight on her legs.

There was no mistaking who had just climbed on here bed.

"Hi, Mila," it came out raspy, but her intruder didn't seem to notice. 

"Hi! Sleep good?" Mila sat up on her belly now and looked at her expectantly, like it was completely normal that she had barged in to Tegan's room.

"Yeah, baby." She groaned and stretched out her arms. Then she looked at the little girl. "Wanna cuddle?"

Mila's eyes lit up and she crawled under the covers. She let Tegan wrap her arms around her and made herself comfortable. Tegan quietly thanked the lord that she had decided to wear a shirt to bed last night.

She kissed the girl's head and rubbed her back. "What do you want to do today, Mila?"

"Hmmm..." She pouted her lips and focused on playing with the collar of Tegan's oversized pyjama shirt. 

"Oh, I know!" she exclaimed. "I want to have ice cream." 

Tegan chuckled. This girl was so easy to please. "Alright, we can do that. And..." she stretched the last word and tapped her finger to her chin to look like she was thinking. "What about breakfast?" 

Mila looked at her excited and whispered, as if she was going to say something extremely wild, "Watermelon?!" 

Tegan raised her eyebrows. "Watermelon for breakfast? You sure?"

Mila nodded and batted her eyes at the woman. "Please!," she whined, and Tegan knew she had a soft spot for the kid when she couldn't say no. 

"Alright, I'll go get you a watermelon. You go cuddle with your mommy now, tell her I'll be back in a while!"

Mila nodded and gave her one last hug. She jumped off the bed and made her way over to her and her mother's room.

Tegan took a deep breath. It was 8:45, she really did have to get up if she didn't want to keep Annalise waiting. She scoffed at her own thought. Who cares if Annalise had to wait a few minutes? That woman had made her wait for almost a _year._ This could serve as payback.

But that was not in Tegan's nature. She sometimes hated herself for being so loyal to her own word. God knows where she would've been if she had just chosen herself over her promises sometimes.

Downstairs in the breakfast area, Annalise was already waiting for her former colleague. She was tapping her foot against the floor nervously. What if she regretted agreeing to meet her and decided she wouldn't show? 

She was quick to erase that thought from her mind; Tegan was one to keep her word. 

That proved to be true when she saw her walk into the room. She was wearing a simple black dress with red flowers all over.

She looked stunning.

"Hi," she said when she sat down in front of Annalise, who smiled back at her.

"Hi. I'm glad you came."

Tegan just nodded. She tried not to look too affected by the other woman, even though it was hard to deny the knot she felt in her stomach. She didn't know if it was caused by the awkward tension between them or her nerves about what she was going to tell her former friend.

"So..." Annalise started hesitantly, "I think I owe you an explanation."

Tegan scoffed. "You owe me a lot more than that."

Annalise bit her lip and avoided Tegan's pointed glare by looking at her folded hands. "Well, yes, I do..."

She carefully thought about what she was going to say next, but Tegan cut her off as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Listen, Annalise, I'm here to enjoy myself." She laid her hand on her chest to accentuate her point. "I brought good people with me, people who make me feel good and safe - I really like them and they really like me. I want to have a good time with them, but it's a lot harder to do that when I have to think about you being here all the time."

Tegan balled her fist. She could use every bit of power she had in her body before saying her next words.

"I don't need you, Annalise. It has taken me a long time to realise that, and now that I do, I'm not about to sacrifice my vacation to make you feel better."

She took a deep breath. "That's all I have to say. I don't hate you, I'll say 'hi' to you if I see you around, but please... Just let me live my life."

Even though she had chosen her words carefully, weighing them one by one, her eyes were saying more than her words ever could. Annalise could see the pain she had caused the woman in those eyes clear as day. 

She swallowed and wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat. A slow nod was all she could do.

Tegan nodded too and stood up from her chair. She looked at the woman opposite her and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Bye, Annalise."

She turned around and made her way out of the breakfast hall, taking some watermelon slices with her along the way. She did not look back.

Annalise watched her leave, feeling like she was glued to her chair. 

"Fuck," she whispered. She gritted her teeth and slammed her fist down on the table, causing an older couple that was sitting near to look at her in annoyance.

She knew she deserved this. Hell, she wouldn't have given Tegan any of her time if the roles were diversed, but she somehow hadn't expected her to blow her off at her like this after she had agreed to have breakfast. She had even looked forward to this moment when she had gone to bed last night.

And now, here she was, trying to fix things, but feeling even more guilty than before this talk. Of course she had known that Tegan must have been hurt by her actions, but seeing it in her eyes, _feeling_ her pain... That just hit different.

She grabbed her plate and walked over to the buffet.

After stuffing herself with french toast and eggs, she felt a bit better. At least she had a beach to cry on instead of a broken desk. She just needed to follow Tegan's lead and enjoy her vacation. There were about a thousand people in this hotel, what were the chances of them running into each other again?

Tegan pushed the door to the breakfast area open and strutted towards the elevator.

Her eyes were starting to fill up with tears and she cursed herself for it.

She had done what was best for her, finally. There was no need to cry about that. But when she stood in the elevator by herself, she couldn't stop the sobs from coming. She grabbed the railing behind her to balance herself when she felt like her legs were about to give out.

This wasn't how she was supposed to feel.

Why did it hurt so much?!

She had been right to tell her off, she _knew_ that. She deserved to choose herself over Annalise. The other woman had done just that countless times and Tegan had just let it happen. Looking back at that now, she should have looked out for herself more. Her alarmbells should have started to ring once she saw how everyone around Annalise got hurt one way or another. They hadn't though. It seemed as though Annalise had hacked into her system and turned them off when it came to her.

But Tegan wasn't one to just give up on a person. Her feelings for the other woman were the main reason for that in this case, but that wasn't an excuse for Annalise to just use her whenever she needed her and throw her out like a dirty towel when she didn't. By denying her that power this time, she thought she would feel like she was protecting herself.

It was supposed to make her feel strong and independent, so why was she feeling so... _broken?_

Why did Annalise still hold so much power over her?

She wiped her eyes and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. The elevator was almost at her floor and she had promised herself that she would do this holiday right. For Naomi and Mila, of course, but maybe even more so for herself.


	6. The Phonecall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annalise decides to ask a friend for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter, but I promise the next one will be longer!
> 
> I know this story is kind of sad right now, but I thought it'd be nice to have them go at this the healthy way for once :)
> 
> Just bear with me, good stuff is coming

The morning may have been rough, but Annalise had decided she was not going to let it get to her. She was fine, really, she had been able to put her feelings away and dive into her book by the hotel's pool. She hadn't shed a tear - Tegan hadn't even crossed her mind. Well, that wasn't really true, but it never took her more than a few seconds to kick that woman from her thoughts again. All she needed were some self-comforting lies and she was good to go.

Until she actually she had actually seen her. Not dream-Tegan, no; _poolside-Tegan_. This version had been wearing nothing more than a light blue bikini. She had dipped into the water at the side opposite to Annalise, which was probably for the best. If she would have been any closer, she might have heard her dropping her book drop to the ground when she had spotted her former friend in this attire.

Annalise had quickly picked it up and stuffed it in her bag. She didn't see herself fit to not think about Tegan when the woman was literally in front of her, showing more skin than Annalise had ever seen from her.

So she had quickly stood up from her stretcher and made her way to her room. Once she was alone again, she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. 

This woman was really messing with her head. 

She decided it was about time to talk to someone other than the voices in her head. She didn't need to think long to know who she'd call. She sat down on her bed and typed in one of the only numbers she knew by heart.

"Hi."

"Hey! I was wondering when you'd call." Eve's voice sounded so cheerful that it was almost foreign to Annalise's ears. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said, way too quick, and even she could hear that that was a lie.

Eve was quiet for a moment. Annalise could almost hear her frowning. "Come on, just tell me. I won't judge."

"Tegan is here," Annalise blurted out.

"Oh," she could hear her friend sigh in relief, "I thought you were going to say you had started drinking again."

Annalise scoffed. "Well, there's still time."

"Wait, why is she there? Did you talk to her?"

She bit her lip. "Oh yes, we've talked."

Eve's gasp was so loud she could clearly hear it. "Annalise! Did you sleep with her?!"

"No!" She quickly replied, a bit too loud for her own liking. "No, of course not. We talked about her not wanting to talk to me anymore."

"Oh..." Eve's voice fell. "Well-"

"Yeah, I know," Annalise interrupted her. "I shouldn't have talked to her in the first place, but I just thought- Maybe I could- I don't know..."

Her friend gave her a few seconds to continue before she asked, "Yeah? What did you think?"

Annalise sighed deeply and leaned back on the mattress. "I thought I could try to make it right with her. I know it's stupid, I've treated her like shit and she deserves to be mad at me. It's probably beyond repare anyway, but when I saw her, I just... I had to try."

Eve was quiet for a moment, letting her words sink in. "So why did you?"

"What?"

"Why did you still want to try?"

Annalise thought about that. Ever since she had seen Tegan play volleyball on the beach, this vacation had only been about her. During her talk with Carlos, she couldn't stop thinking about her, and when she had stepped on stage, it was like no one else in the world mattered anymore. Even looking back on her day at the pool today, when she had been trying so hard not to think about that woman, she couldn't even remember anything about the chapter's she'd read. All she could recall was Tegan in that bikini. Tegan being so close, yet further away from her than ever. Tegan's eyes, Tegan's pain, Tegan's everything.

And she was. She _was_ everything. Annalise had just been extremely stupid to only see that now.

"Because I miss her," she suddenly admitted, her voice breaking halfway through. "Oh god, I really miss her..."

The other woman smiled on the other side of the line. "That's okay, honey."

"No, it's not," She was fully sobbing now, curling herself around a pillow on the bed. "I hurt her so much, Eve. I can not just fix that! I shouldn't even want to. She deserves someone so much better than me."

"That's not for you to decide, Annalise."

She sighed deeply. Sam might have been the one with the license, but talking to Eve was just as much a therapy session.

"And besides, you're a way better version of yourself now," The younger woman tried to calm her friend down.

Annalise sniffled. Eve was actually right. She had grown a lot since she had left her old life behind. "So is she. She looks amazing."

Eve chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't start by hitting on her if I were you. Let's save that for later, alright?"

"I don't want to ruin her vacation, Eve... She specifically asked me to stay away from her. I don't want to do any more harm."

"Hmm... Well, yes, you should respect that. But what about after the vacation? You could call her when you get home."

The thought of that calmed her mind a bit. "Yeah, I guess..." She heard someone call Eve's name in the background, followed by some lips smacking sounds and Eve's soft giggles.

"Ehm, Annalise, I have to go!", she excused herself.

Hearing her this happy made Annalise smile as well, even if it was light. "Yes, you do. Thank y-"

Eve had hung up before she could finish.

This mini-therapy session had done Annalise good.


	7. The First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annalise eats some ice cream and Tegan says "i scream"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I broke my streak of one chapter every day :(
> 
> My schedule is honestly killing me so I didn't have time to write these last few days, but I also didn't want to make the wait too long. I don't have anything written after this one so it's a surprise for all of us where it's gonna go from here hihaho
> 
> Also YAY BIDEN!!!

"One cookies and one chocolate, please."

A boy named Miguel was scooping her order into her cup when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. "Hey!"

She turned around and had to think for a second when she saw who was standing behind her. The mysterious stranger took off his sunglasses and looked at her expectantly.

"Ah, it's you! Hey," she smiled. Carlos leaned in and gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek, which caught her a bit off-guard.

"So nice to see you again." He sounded way too excited for how their last meeting had ended.

Miguel put her cup on the counter and lined up the card machine.

"Yeah." She straightened her shirt. "Eh, can I get you a scoop?"

Carlos chuckled. "Well, if you're offering... I'll get what she's having," he winked to Miguel.

After she paid, they walked towards the beach. The sun was starting to go down and the temperature was a lot more enjoyable than during the day. She took her flip flops in her hand as they stepped onto the sand.

"So, how do you like it here so far?" Carlos asked.

Annalise quickly put some ice cream in her mouth so she could think of a way to answer him without sounding like she was hopeless, but that would also be somewhat true.

"Well, it's beautiful here. And I have a nice book, so that helps."

Carlos laughed at that. "You're telling me your favorite thing in this place here is your book?"

Annalise swallowed. If only he knew what her favorite thing truly was. Or rather, _who._

"No... I mean, I like the beach. I don't know - I haven't seen much of the area."

"Well, let me show you around! I know where all the good stuff is." He looked at her from the corners of his eyes, trying to read her facial expression.

She thought about it. She knew she couldn't give him anything romantically - her mind was otherwise occupied, so it felt unfair to lead him on. He was good company, however, and she could get into the idea of not spending another evening by herself. _But,_ she told herself, he she had to let him know about Tegan before they took it any further.

Just after she opened her mouth to tell him where she was at, she heard someone call her name behind her.

"Annalise!"

That voice was unfamiliar. Did everyone in this hotel know who she was?!

But when she looked over her shoulder and saw long, blonde locks, it turned out it wasn't a complete stranger. She couldn't surpress a sigh when she saw the unfairly beautiful woman strut towards them.

"Oh, hey. Naomi, right?" She stopped walking and turned to face her, but she didn't move from Carlos' side.

"Yeah!" Naomi's smile looked genuine as she put her hands on her hips. She was slightly out of breath from trying to catch up with them. "Eh, sorry if I'm interrupting something," she apologized while she looked over at Carlos. He held up his hands as if to say it was okay. Annalise wished he hadn't.

"I just wanted to say that I really liked to meet you yesterday. Tegan has told me so much about you, so it's nice to have a face to go with the name, you know?" Her smile was wide, just on the edge of being too much.

Well, that was a surprise. Tegan had told Naomi about her? What the hell did that mean? She must certainly have missed yesterday's news.

"So, ehm..." Naomi continued when Annalise didn't say anything. "If you ever want to catch up with us, or gossip about her, or - I don't know, if you feel like hanging with a three year old, you know where to find me."

Annalise let her offer sink in. It sounded like heaven and hell at the same time, but she also knew she didn't want to overstep Tegan's freshly set boundaries. She nodded lightly. "I'll keep it in mind."

Naomi smiled warmly and took a step backwards. She laid her hands on her back. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it. See you!" She left at the same determined pace as she had greeted her with. Annalise watched her walk off the beach.

She wondered if she would tell Tegan about this weird exchange, and if so, what she would think of it. Or maybe she didn't even have to tell her, because Tegan had been the one to send her here? 

No, she shouldn't think that way. Tegan had been very clear and she was not going to make herself believe she had a chance with her.

But still, a girl can dream...

"Are you secretly famous?" a low voice whispered next to her ear. She quickly turned around, startled by the closeness of his face and also by him still being there. She had totally _not_ forgotten about that.

He laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I didn't mean to scare you. And if you are, I'm not gonna blow your cover or something."

They started walking again and Carlos took her empty ice cream cup from her hands.

She quickly calmed down and shook her head, laughing through her nose as she thought about his question. "Don't worry, I'm not famous."

"So, no risk of getting hoarded by fans if I were to take you out?"

Annalise bit her lip. Damn, this man was smooth. She looked down at her bare feet in the sand. They looked like they hadn't seen daylight in years. And to be fair, that was kind of true. 

Then she looked at Carlos again, who was still patiently waiting for her answer,

Oh well, what could it hurt?

Meanwhile, a mere two hundred metres away from them, Tegan was filling up a glass of wine. She had ordered a bottle the moment after she had put Mila to bed and decided that it couldn't hurt to have one glass before Naomi got back from her walk.

Her glass was already half empty when she heard their door shut. "Hey," she said in a low voice, careful not to wake Mila, "I'm here."

Naomi turned around the corner and was quick to sit down on the other side of the couch. She poored herself a glass too.

"Cheers," she said, smiling wide.

Tegan raised her glass to hers with a curious look on her face. "What happened?"

Naomi forged innocence. "Huh?" She took a gulp from her glass and didn't look her friend in the eye.

"You look so... Happy," Tegan explained.

The blonde chuckled. "Yeah, that's because I am. Look where we are!" She beamed and laid her hand on Tegan's knee. "I can't thank you enough."

Tegan smiled too, although hers was a little less sincere than Naomi's. She leaned forward and filled up her glass.

"Also... I saw Annalise."

Tegan froze for a second. She had not seen this coming. And, more importantly, she was not in the mood to talk about Annalise right now. "Oh," she said, not trying to hide the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

"Yeah, I walked up to her and-"

"You walked up to her?!" She set her glass down on the table and looked at her friend with raised eyebrows.

Her tone made Naomi a little uneasy. She was fidgetting with her wineglass and looked at the ground.

"Well, yes... I just wanted to say hi. You know, in case we might want to ask her something later."

Tegan scoffed. She stood up from the couch abruptly. "I don't have anything to ask her. You shouldn't talk to her, Naomi."

Her friend looked at her in confusion as she walked towards the window. "Why not? She could help us!"

"Because I say so!" Tegan said, a lot louder now. It was unlike her to raise her voice, so her friend looked at her in surprise. She turned towards her again and balled her fists. "I don't ask much from you. Just do this for me, please."

Naomi couldn't make sense of Tegan's response. Why did she care so much if she had talked to Annalise? They used to be friends, why couldn't she do the same thing? But she did owe Tegan, and a lot at that. So she nodded.

"Alright. I won't talk to her."

Tegan took a deep breath as she walked back to the couch. She filled up her glass until it was half full and downed it in one go.

"Thank you," she said. Naomi looked at her in confusion, not knowing whether she should ask further or not. But if she was honest with herself, she was way too curious not to.

"Will you tell me why?" She tried to sound as innocent as possible, not wanting to cause a similar reaction as the one she'd just seen.

Tegan looked at her for a second and nipped at her upper lip while breathing in through her nose. She didn't have the energy for this conversation right now.

"Not now, I'm going to bed. Sleep tight."

It was way too early to go to bed, but Naomi didn't say anything of it. 

She quickly entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her, her wineglass still in hand. Her eyes fell shut for a few seconds when she leaned against the door.

Why couldn't she just get a break?!

**\- two months earlier -**

"Alright, don't get mad at me," Naomi started, not daring to look her friend in the eye. She was sitting on the couch in Tegan's office to discuss her case and Tegan was pacing back and forth. They had just had their first meeting with Naomi's ex Yuri and his lawyer to figure out a deal on their divorce.

It had not gone very well - and that was an understatement.

Yuri wanted to fight Naomi's proposal for split custody, claiming that he was the only one fit to care for a child. He was wrong, Naomi and Tegan knew that, but if anyone were to read about the case on paper, chances were they would say he had a point. Yuri had always been the one who made the money between the two of them, and while Naomi had always worked before she had Mila, Yuri had persuaded her to stay home after Mila was born. His family name was a given in Forbes the last ten years, while she had been a stay-at-home mom without a nickel to her name.

Also, Naomi's criminal record didn't help. She was completely clean now, but the drug charges she had faced a long time ago could seriously hurt her chances in this case.

Naomi's statement made Tegan stand still and turn towards her.

"Why would I get mad at you?"

Naomi sucked in her bottom lip and closed her eyes, before she burst out: "I think I need a different lawyer."

Tegan's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. " _What?!_ "

She walked towards the couch and looked at the blonde in confusion. "Why?"

Naomi turned her laptop around so Tegan could see what was on her screen. It was an article by USA Today titled "Annalise Keating: a real life superhero." It had the picture in it that Tegan had found on Facebook a couple of weeks earlier.

"I did some research, and- You know her, right?"

Tegan's breathing sped up. She looked from her friend to the laptop and back.

"I can't lose Mila, Tee. I just _can't_. But...", she continued hesitantly. "I'm really scared we're not going to win this. We can use all the help we can get."

She took Tegan's hand and looked her in the eyes, begging her to understand. "I'm sorry if this comes off as me not trusting you - I really do, but... I think we need her."

Tegan dropped down on the couch, trying to process what her friend had just told her.

"I- I..."

She finally managed to look her in the eyes and got her hand from in between hers. "I'm sorry..." She stood up again and walked out of the room at a quick pace.

Naomi watched her walk away not knowing what had just happened. Had she said something wrong?

Later that day, Tegan had called her and said she had a way to win the case. The timing was interesting, but that didn't make it any less welcome to Naomi.

Tegan had explained her plan and Naomi immediately agreed, all thoughts about asking Annalise for help forgotten.

And the plan worked. Or at least, it did for a while. Until an anonymous source had Tegan a medical file of Naomi Louvigne, stating that she had been prescription pills for all sorts of diseases she didn't have.

She had been furious with her friend. This was going to make her lose the case, and, more importantly, her child. Tegan had done absolutely everything she could for her friend - she was fighting her fight for her, and this is what the woman was doing in the meantime?

She had called Naomi to her office to tell her that she would no longer be her lawyer, but when she saw the look on her friend's face, she knew something was off. Tegan could almost always tell if someone was lying to her, and the tears Naomi had cried were absolutely real.

Someone had written up false medical records to make it look like she had relapsed.

Tegan had called everyone in the hospital, trying to find out who it could have been, but no one could tell her anything. All of this had caused her blood to boil and she had thrown herself into this case with all she had from that point on.

Meanwhile, Naomi had felt like the world was collapsing beneath her feet.

She had no idea how she could ever fix this, but she had the feeling that it was going to break Tegan if she laid it all on her.

**\- present day -**

Annalise closed her door behind her. Carlos truly was a gentleman. They'd had dinner at a restaurant just off the boulevard, and the evening had been amazing - very much to her own surprise. The food had been great, and he really was good company. They had only talked about casual things, so the reunion with her old friend had simply not come up.

He had walked her to her room and they had even parted with a kiss. A very sweet one, at that. No hands, no tongue, nothing but a teenage peck. She had enjoyed it, though. The second they had parted, she worried that he was going to ask to come into her room, but he hadn't. He had just smiled and told her good night, and then left for his own room.

He had thoroughly impressed her.

But when she was drifting off to sleep less than half an hour later, it was someone else entirely that entered her dreams.


	8. The Surfing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They dive right into it.
> 
> The ocean, I mean.

Her phone lit up on her bed side table. She groaned and doubted whether she should look or not. She was not in the mood to think about work right now. When it buzzed for a second time, and then a third time right after, she couldn't resist the urge to at least check who was bothering her at this ungodly hour.

She took her phone from the charger and laid back down. She frowned when she saw an unknown number listed as the sender.

_Good morning beautiful_ , she read, and it was followed by:

_It's Carlos btw_

_But u might have guessed :)_

She smiled as her thoughts went back to last night's events. It felt like this was exactly what she needed right now. Maybe a man could finally stop her from thinking about the _women_ who were here.

_Good morning Carlos!_

Her next text required a bit more time to think about. She didn't want to seem too eager.

Luckily, he took that burden off her.

Carlos: _Got any plans for today?_

She bit her lip. The idea of spending the day with Carlos was far from terrible. And an even more significant reason to welcome him: at this moment, she actually _regretted_ not inviting him into her room last night. It had been a while since she'd slept with a nice man.

Hell, it had been months since she'd slept with _anyone._

Also, her sexual frustration was at its peak today due to the very hot dream she had just awaken from.

But it was probably better not to tell Carlos about that. Especially since he had not been the one playing the lead in that dream. That role had been filled by someone with a much smaller body and a lot more sass.

Carlos: _I'd like to take you somewhere if you don't_

His text came before she had thought of a witful reply, and she wasn't sad about it.

Annalise: _Only if we go to that taco place you wouldn't shut up about._

Carlos: _I promise!_

Annalise: _OK, let's go._

One of the many things Annalise had not anticipated when she agreed to Carlos' request, is that she would be wearing a wet suit and holding a surfboard in her hand just a few hours later.

Apparently, the hotel arranged things like these all the time. They did daytrips to adventure parks, dolphin swimming, salsa lessons, cocktail workshops, and they also had their own surfing school. Carlos had been one of the teachers back in the day, so it was something he was very excited about sharing with Annalise.

Annalise, however, did not share that excitement.

She had never been a good swimmer and, to be fair, she wasn't a fan of the idea of being in the natural habitat of sharks, jellyfish, crabs and who knows what else lived down there. It was something that ran in her family. The Harknesses just weren't ocean-people.

Also, she had grown out her hair into an afro that she was very proud of and she knew that the ocean's salty water wouldn't be very kind to that. It would take at least two days for it to get back to it's usual structure.

And so, when Carlos told her about his plan, she'd found it hard to feign enthusiasm. The only thing that had caused her to put her pride aside was the look on his face when he told her of his idea. He looked like a happy child, and Annalise just couldn't say no to children. Maybe she could tackle a fear while she was here, wouldn't that be a nice outcome of this holiday?

The group wasn't big: aside from the two of them, only three other people were listening to the instructor, Mike, explaining the basics of surfing.

Annalise was carefully paying attention to everything that he was saying, not wanting to miss out on any life-saving tips. Carlos knew him, of course, and Mike gladly made use of that by joking around with him a little in between his notes.

"Isn't that your Beyonce?" Carlos whispered in her ear as he pointed to someone jogging towards them, wearing the exact same wetsuit as them.

Annalise's stomach fell when she recognized Tegan's figure. As if this morning wasn't tense enough already.

She swallowed and didn't feel capable of answering him right away.

Luckily, she didn't have to.

"I'm sorry!" Tegan yelled, grabbing Mike's attention as she finally reached the group. "I had to..." she laid her hands on her knees, bending over a bit so she could steady her breathing, "take care of something."

Mike patted her on the shoulder. "No worries, I'm happy you could make it." He turned to the group. "So everyone, this is Tegan - she only started yesterday but she's a natural!"

Tegan smiled at him and quickly waved to the group. That was when she saw Annalise. Her eyes stopped scanning over the group and her smile fell. What was she doing here? She knew that Annalise was _not_ a swimmer.

She stood up straight when Mike began talking again.

Then, she waved at Annalise, too. She was not going to let her ruin her fun.

The other woman felt bad immediately. It looked like Tegan really wanted to be here and now she had to deal with her being here, too... This was _exactly_ what she had been trying to avoid.

But they were here now, so the least she could do was not to make it any more awkward than it already was. She waved back at her and tried to smile a little. That probably failed, but it was the intention that counted.

"It's her, right?" Carlos repeated his question, while he laid his hand on her shoulder.

She nodded slightly.

They started with some exercises on land. Learning how to paddle, how to stand up on the board and what they should do if they had fallen off... Annalise was starting to dread going into the water more and more. She thought about making up an excuse, but Carlos seemed so excited and he was trying so hard to make her feel confident. He was proving to be a really fierce cheerleader.

Not wanting to disappoint him, she decided that she would just try it once. She could always head out later if it turned out to be as horrible as it seemed.

So she joined the group as they walked over to the water. Tegan was the first to lay her board out and paddle into the ocean, quickly leaving the rest of the group behind.

Carlos stayed with Annalise, watching her struggle to get onto her board and then falling off on the other side. She felt the ocean water hit her eyes and she knew that the slight hope she still had that her hair would stay dry was destroyed.

But Carlos was quick to help her get up on her board and he paddled behind her to push her when she was about to lag behind.

They reached the rest of the group, where Mike was explaining how to find a good wave.

Tegan, still fresh out of yesterday's practice, was doing what Mike had explained right away. It didn't look very clean - she was far from a professional surfer, but she could manage to sit up on her knees on her board as a wave carried her back to the beach.

Annalise watched her with awe. She didn't notice that Carlos had gotten up on his board and was riding a wave while he looked like a fully blown olympic champion.

It wasn't long before everyone had at least made an attempt to find a wave, so she was left alone with Mike. She really had to do something now.

And so she tried to find a wave that was strong enough. It didn't take her too long, but when she was ready to try actually riding it, she pushed her board just a little bit too far to the side. Instead of lifting her up, the wave flipped her board upside down, making her crash into the ocean once again.

She felt a rush of fear when she lost track of what up and down was. Her arms flailed around under water, trying to find the chord that she was attached to her board with. It was only a few seconds before she felt it slip through her fingers.

Still in panick mode, she tried to swim upwards until she finally felt air enter her lungs again. She held onto her board for dear life. Why was she putting herself through this?!

Carlos' voice was sure to remind her of her reasoning. He was paddling towards her and looked at her in worry.

"You okay?"

She was _so_ not in the mood to people-please.

"Yes," she said anyway, not wanting to give into her own weakness.

Carlos smiled and swam back to Mike, who was waiting for him to catch a wave together.

She lifted herself back onto her board and breathed in and out very carefully.

"I thought this would be the last place that I'd ever see you," she suddenly heard someone say in a very sarcastic tone.

Tegan was looking at her amused, straddling her board while looking completely comfortable. Annalise felt the urge to tell her how bad she wanted to leave and that she could really use a few virgin cocktails and that she wanted Tegan to be the one she could share them with - but she didn't.

"I'm full of surprises," she said instead, but he lack of enthusiasm in her voice betrayed her.

Tegan laughed humourlessly. She looked around and spotted a wave of substantial size coming towards them.

Annalise watched her as she paddled up to it. It looked like it didn't cost her any effort to get up on her board. She looked so peaceful that she was actually starting to feel a little jealous.

If Tegan could do it, then why couldn't she?

So there she went, paddling towards a wave that was gaining volume as it came closer. She positioned herself in the right way and... There she went! The wave took a hold of her board and she was taken with it. It felt like she was weightless.

The moment wasn't very long, but it was enough to be proud of. She quickly looked at Tegan to see if she had seen her, but Tegan was nowhere to be seen.

Carlos, however, was cheering loudly.

She tried a couple more times, and she actually succeeded in sitting on her knees for a second, but she just hated paddling all the way back. It wasn't long before she told Carlos that she would wait for him at the beach.

When she sat down in the sand, she felt relieved. It was a good feeling; adrenaline rushing through her veins, but she wasn't twenty anymore. She was a woman who needed rest way more than she needed physical excercise.

Carlos looked like he was having the time of his life and Annalise was enjoying watching him at it. She couldn't resist to look at Tegan every once in a while, though. And she could have been hallucinating, but it looked like Tegan was looking at her sometimes, too.

Annalise was enjoying the show when she heard a high pitched voice screaming not too far away. She looked up from the surfers and saw a small, brown-haired girl crying loudly.

She quickly made her way over there and knelt down beside her. "Hey, honey! Have you lost your mommy?"

The girl nodded as she continued crying at the top of her lungs.

"Oh no... Let's find her. I'll help you!" Annalise held out her hand.

Her sobbing continued, but its volume got a little lower as she placed her small hand in hers.

Annalise lifted her up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "What's your name, honey?"

The girl sniffled as she was trying to talk through her sobs. "Mila," she managed to say, and Annalise's ears spiked.

She had heard that name before. From Tegan's lips, if she remembered correctly (she did - she remembered every word Tegan had said this week vividly).

She looked around to find the latina, but she was way too far into the ocean to hear her if she'd call her name.

At that moment, she heard someone else shouting.

"Mila!"

Mila's head turned and she saw her mother running towards them. "Mommy," she screamed, and Annalise walked towards the blonde.

Naomi took her from Annalise's arms right away and hugged her tight. "Oh, baby..." She stroked her hear and placed several kisses on her head. "Are you okay?"

The little girl nodded, her eyes puffy and her breathing still a bit uneven from the crying, but she looked a lot more at ease now that she was with her mother again. "I- I- I was looking f-for a m-mermaid and t-then y-you were gone!"

Naomi hugged her a little tighter. "Oh, Mila... Don't walk away, okay?" Her own eyes were starting to tear up, too. "You need to stay with mommy."

Mila nodded and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.

Then, Naomi looked at Annalise and it looked like she only recognized her then. "Oh, hey."

"She's fine, I think," Annalise was quick to say.

Naomi nodded and looked at her daughter. "Yeah."

Then she faced Annalise again. "Thank you," she said, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but she suddenly remembered Tegan's words from yesterday. It wasn't like her to just walk off after what Annalise had just done for her, but she didn't want to disappoint Tegan any more than she already had.

"Thank you," she repeated, a strangely apologetic look in her eyes, and then she turned around, leaving a fairly shaken Annalise behind.


	9. The Campfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annalise truly is a real life superhero

Annalise was actually having a really good time. The weather was great, of course, and she had finished her book, after which she'd picked up a new one - Stephen King's _The Green Mile,_ this time. She liked it, but she also missed reading about lesbians a little.

It had been a while since she'd seen Tegan or Naomi, and she was liking it more than she'd expected. The surfing lesson was still quite fresh in her memories and there hadn't been a night yet that she had not had a Tegan-filled-dream, but she felt like she was making progress. Talking to Eve had given her that. She had promised herself to respect Tegan's wishes and that she would just give her a call when they were both home again.

Carlos had made the last two days very enjoyable, too. They had met up again the night after the surfing lesson and he had taken her dancing. She'd had the time of her life. Nothing had really happened between them, and she was kind of glad about that. What they had felt more like a friendship, which he seemed to feel the same way about. Neither of them had tried to actually bring it up, but it felt like an unspoken agreement between them. They were fine like this - just enjoying each other's company while it lasted.

Yesterday, she had gone for a walk by herself. She wanted to see a bit more of the surroundings and she had not been disappointed. She had even found a tiny, beautiful white sand-beach with no tourists on it. When she sent Carlos a picture, it turned out that even he didn't know about it. She'd felt like a treasure hunter.

That morning, she had brought Stephen King to her freshly discovered piece of paradise and enjoyed the morning over there. Her body had soon started complaining about the lack of a decent place to sit down on, though, so she was forced to leave earlier than she wanted to. Carlos had texted her on her way back, asking her if she wanted to join him and his friends by a campfire tonight, and she had immediately agreed. She had met Carlos' friends when they had gone out together and she'd found that they were just as laid back and easy to talk to as Carlos was.

So she found herself sitting on the sand with Carlos on her left and Mike, the surfing teacher, on her right. Maria and Don had both brought their guitars and they were playing all sorts of Mexican songs that everyone except Annalise knew the lyrics to. She didn't mind, though. Even if she was the only one who didn't sing or drink. The positive energy was magnetic and she wanted to be soaked in it. Her head was leaning on Carlos' shoulder and she felt like her smile was tattooed on her face.

"You still there?" She heard a low, heavy voice very close to her ear.

Carlos had wrapped his arm around her and he was looking at her in awe. She smiled back. "Yes, of course."

He laughed through his nose as she took her head off his shoulder. "I thought you had fallen asleep."

Annalise shook her head. She looked around the circle of people they were in. Everyone looked more beautiful in the light of the fire. They sang with their whole heart and the people who'd clearly had a few beers too many already were drunkenly dancing around the fire.

"No, I'm just... enjoying." She looked Carlos in the eye. "Thank you for inviting me."

Carlos shrugged and took her hand. "Of course." His thumb was rubbing over the back of her hand and she couldn't help but feel... at ease. Happy, even.

The feeling was almost new to her.

As time passed by, she felt her eyes get heavier and heavier. The ending of the umpteenth song was her cue to stand up and make her way back to her room. She bid everyone goodnight and declined Carlos' offer to walk her back to the hotel. He could stay with his friends.

The walk back to the hotel was short, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. The temperature was very nice at this time of day, and the air felt much lighter when the sun wasn't burning on her skin. 

She was about to step into the elevator when she heard a very familiar voice call out from the bar area.

"No! You don't tell me what to do!"

Annalise stopped walking right away, her ears burning from what she'd just heard. Should she...

The next thing she heard was a loud bang, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

Yes, she should.

She walked into the bar and if she wasn't so nervous about walking into the same room as Tegan, she probably would have laughed at the sight in front of her.

Tegan was sitting on the ground, legs spread wide, with a knocked over bar stool next to her. Her glass was shattered on the other side of the bar stool in a puddle of light brown liquid. Tegan looked like a toddler who had just thrown a temper, pouting her lips and everything.

The barkeeper, however, looked like he was about to burst from anger. He was trying to hold it in, wanting to remain professional, but he was clearly having a very hard time.

Annalise quickly walked up to them as Tegan lifted herself from the ground very slowly.

"Sorry," she muttered, trying to lift the barstool back up, but the alcohol in her body caused her to lose her balance again.

Annalise grabbed her arm to keep her upright. She tried not to be too impressed by the woman's muscles, which she could feel tensing underneath her fingers.

Tegan didn't seem to notice the contact and she placed the chair back on its legs carefully.

"How much?" she asked to no one really, trying to get her wallet from her purse.

Annalise watched her struggle as the man behind the bar was looking at her, now. Desperately.

"Just put it on room 708." She handed him a 1000 peso bill. "Sorry about the mess." 

Then she turned to Tegan again.

This time, the clearly intoxicated woman did notice her. Her brows furrowed as she was trying to make sense of this situation. "Annalise? What are you doing here?"

She squinted her eyes and took a step back, almost tripping over her own feet.

"Let's get you out of here," Annalise laid a hand on her upper arm, trying to stabilize her, but Tegan swatted it away.

"Fuck off. I don't need you." She sounded like her tongue had doubled in size, slurring her speech. She picked up her purse from the bar stool and focused hard to lift it over her shoulder.

When she turned around to see Annalise was still standing there, she rolled her eyes. "What do you want?!" She said, a lot louder now. 

And Annalise didn't know how to answer that. What _did_ she want? She didn't want to leave Tegan by herself in the state she was in, that's for sure.

"You can't woo me, you know." She pointed a finger at her and moved it clumsily up and down. "I know what you're trying to-" A hickup interrupted her heartfelt speech.

"Shut up, Tegan," Annalise finally shut her down. This wasn't going anywhere and people were giving them looks. 

The other woman looked extremely offended.

Annalise walked into the hallway, where she got into the elevator. Tegan followed suit, still struggling to walk in a straight line. 

She pointed her finger at her again and opened her mouth to start yelling at her some more, but Annalise crossed her arms in front of her as she deadpanned "which floor?"

Tegan frowned, not knowing where that question came from and also annoyed that she had interrupted her train of thought. 

"Don't speak to me like that!" She stood closer to Annalise and put her finger straight to the woman's chest this time. 

The taller woman wrapped her hand around hers and lifted it off of her. "What floor, Tegan?" She repeated, more forceful this time.

Tegan growled as she pulled her hand loose. She took a step back again and leaned against the railing in the elevator. "Third," she mumbled.

Annalise pressed the button and looked at the woman in front of her. She had seen Tegan drunk before, sure, but she had never looked this smashed. Tegan was someone who knew what she could handle, and she could definitely hold her liquor. Why did she go so far this time? It was actually quite painful seeing her like this - she looked... broken.

She was humming along to the elevator song, lagging a full beat behind.

The elevator doors opened and Tegan slowly let go of the railing. Annalise followed her into the hallway, watching her pat the pockets of her shorts. She soon saw her turn around, an embarassed look on her face. "I- I think I forgot my key..."

Annalise sighed. This was not what they needed right now.

"We'll just knock. Naomi is in, right?"

Tegan nodded slowly, hesitantly, almost. She walked up to a door almost at the end of the hallway and knocked twice.

Annalise leaned against the wall oposite the door, wishing for this to be over. It felt like she was taking care of a very stubborn child. A child that wasn't even hers, either. 

They heard a stumble and someone said "I'm coming!"

The only thing was; that someone sounded a whole lot like a man.

When the door was opened, they were greeted by an old, wrinkly white guy standing in his underwear. "Hi ladies! Eh - I don't think I ordered anything..."

Annalise rolled her eyes. "Jesus," she whispered under her breath. 

"Sorry," she apologized to the man who was watching them curiously. 

Tegan was standing completely still, not knowing what to say or do. She felt embarassed and she wanted to puke. When Annalise put her hand on her arm and tugged on it a little, she gave in to her for the first time that evening. She felt so stupid.

"I'll call Naomi. Give me your phone," Annalise sounded completely calm, which somehow was exactly was Tegan needed right now. She reached into her pockets and that's when she realized...

"My key is in my phone..." she looked at Annalise, the shame of the situation truly coming down on her now. "In my room."

Annalise could not believe what she just heard. The Tegan she once knew so well would have never gotten herself into a situation like this. And if she had, then she sure as hell would have found her way out of it. But this person in front of her was nothing like that woman.

This woman started breathing uneven and she placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat through her whole body. She felt like the world was turning too fast and the mist in her head was starting to swallow her. Her legs were giving out, her vision turned blurry and all she could hear was the pounding of her heart.

"Tegan!" Annalise suddenly snapped, bringing Tegan back to Earth. Her hands were on her arms and she felt like her eyes were piercing through to her soul.

"Stop this," she said calmly. "It's gonna be okay."

Tegan looked at her with big, wet eyes and swallowed. Annalise's grip on her forearms was very tight. It made her feel weirdly safe, but at the same time she didn't really want to give in to that feeling. She closed her eyes and tried to even her breathing.

Annalise slowly let go of her arms as Tegan looked like she was steadying herself.

Her breathing was starting to even out, and then she turned around to face the hallway again.

"I don't think I remember the room," she admitted softly, not wanting to look at Annalise anymore. Her words were still slurred by the alcohol, but it sounded like the most honest thing she'd said all night.

The other woman just nodded, but then realized Tegan couldn't see her right now. She cleared her throat and said, "that's okay."

Was it really?

"Do you want to... I mean- you can stay in my room, if you want."

Tegan turned back to face her with her mouth slightly agape, all the words she could possibly say stuck in her throat. The offer sounded like so much more than just a bed to sleep in. It was like she was reaching out her hand to try to pull her out of the shit she was in right now. It felt like a trap to take that hand, like she would be handing over all the power to her. It would mean that she had lost. But Annalise was looking at her with so much worry and care and her eyes were so full of _peace_ , that it also felt like a warm bath. It seemed like the worst and best thing at the same time.

And she _really_ wanted to say yes.

"Tegan?" A soft voice made her turn around. Naomi was standing in a doorway, wearing a fluffy white robe. It was the door next to the one they'd just knocked at.

She looked like she just woke up, which probably was the case.

Tegan felt like she could breathe again and approached Naomi right away. She looked nothing short of angelic to her.

"God, where were you?" Naomi hugged her tight, but she let go when she smelled the alcohol on her. "Jesus, Tee..."

Her sleek fingers rubbed on her friend's cheeks as she inspected her face. Then, she saw Annalise awkwardly standing behind her.

"Oh, hi, Annalise." Naomi sounded surprised and her eyes moved back and forth between her and her friend, trying to make sense of this situation.

"Hi," Annalise said. "Ehm, I think I should go."

Tegan looked over her shoulder, wanting to say something, wanting to thank her or curse at her, or at least tell her that she should, indeed, leave, but no words came out. She still couldn't think straight.

Instead, she waved hesitantly, trying to smile a little to make it less awkward.

Annalise waved back, and then walked away.

Tegan sighed and leaned her head on Naomi's shoulder. She really wanted to be asleep and forget about all of this.


	10. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tegan realizes something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some backstory about Tegan and Naomi.
> 
> The circle is starting to fill in!

Tegan woke up feeling like absolute shit. The first thing she noticed was the pounding in her head, then the dryness in her mouth and last, but definitely not least, she felt the urge to throw up.

So to start the day off right, she headed straight over to the toilet to empty her stomach. It had been a long time since she had last been drunk, and now she remembered why.

Naomi heard her going into the bathroom and walked after her shortly. When she saw her friend leaning over the toilet, she immediately knelt down beside her to keep her hair from falling in front of her face. This gave her vivid flashbacks to the few highschool parties they'd gone to.

Tegan had met Naomi when they were in the same English class in the first year of high school. The two of them were amongst the top students of their class and they rivalled for the highest GPA all the time.

Their friendship had only started to develop after a year of looking at each other like they were about to set the other on fire. When they had to work in pairs at the beginning of the second year, it was a tactical move to partner up, being the best students in the class and all. They started out meeting in the library, sharing their thoughts on the works of Jane Eyre and Carol Ann Duffy, but they soon discovered that their views were fairly similar. Their meetings started to take place in one of their homes from there on out, and they started to talk about way more than just school.

Neither of them had a lot of friends, so they had a lot of time left to share with each other. They'd do their homework together, talk about boys (well, Naomi did) and discuss politics, of course. When Tegan started to develop feelings for a girl - Dana, who was also in their class, Naomi was the first person she'd told. They shared things with each other that no one else knew about them.

But when Naomi got a boyfriend at the end of the third year, their friendship started to change. It started with only hanging out four days a week in stead of five, but that soon turned to three, then two and after a few months Tegan only saw her friend once every two weeks if she was lucky. Her schoolwork started to suffer as well, since her boyfriend was taking up so much of her time. 

Naomi started to go to school less and she was ignoring Tegan's calls. Tegan hadn't known what to do. She didn't want to give up on her friend, so she brought the notes she took in the classes that Naomi had missed to her house. She'd been doing that for two months - always hoping that Naomi would come to her senses soon enough. But one day, her mom opened the door to her and told her that Naomi wasn't home; that she had not been home for two days and that she had taken almost all of her clothes and belongings with her. It had been tough on Tegan, especially when she hadn't shown up to school at all after that.

In stead of cry about it, Tegan had just poured all her anger and energy in nailing her final exams, earning herself a full scholarship into Stanford in the process. She had seen Naomi only once after that, in a back alley, with a needle in her arm. She had even approached her, but Naomi hadn't even recognized her.

That's when she had known their friendship was ruined forever.

Until Naomi had given her a call about ten months ago, asking her if she wanted to meet up. Tegan didn't have a lot of friends, still, and she had been curious to see how the other woman was doing, so she'd agreed. They had gone for a coffee and Naomi had told her all about her life since she'd last seen Tegan. How her boyfriend at the time got her addicted to all sorts of drugs, how he'd prostituted her for his own goods and how she'd finally managed to get away from him. Then, she'd told her about Mila and Yuri and that she was doing just fine now. They had kept in touch after that, and Tegan had been the one who was there for her when things with Yuri started going south. She had offered to find her a good divorce lawyer, but Naomi had refused all of her help. It was only when she offered doing it herself that Naomi had agreed to let her help.

And two weeks ago, a lot further into the divorce process and only a couple of weeks before their custody case went to court, Tegan had decided that she'd treat her friend and herself to a well-deserved get away.

So here she was, hanging over a toilet while Naomi was holding up her hair.

"Jesus, Tee, why did you go so far?"

Tegan leaned against the wall beside the toilet and she sighed. Naomi flushed the toilet as she handed her friend a piece of toilet paper, which she gladly used to wipe her mouth with.

"Hold up, I'll get you some water."

Naomi walked out of the bathroom and Tegan used the short minute of alone-time that got her to slowly lift herself off the ground. She sat back down on the closed toilet seat again and laid her head in her hands, trying to ease her dizziness.

She took the glass of water from the blonde's hands when she returned and drank it all in one gulp.

Naomi leaned against the sink with her arms crossed. "Why was Annalise with you?"

That turned Tegan's head up. She sighed once again as she laid her head onto her hand again. "Oh God, I almost forgot about that."

"Well?" Naomi said, after Tegan didn't respond any further.

The latina looked at her through her lashes. She sat her glass down on the side of the huge bath and wiped her mouth once more.

"I don't even know, to be honest. She was just... there."

Naomi raised her eyebrows. "Really? She was just standing in our hallway?"

Tegan shook her head and slowly stood up from the toilet seat. She felt lightheaded immediately and had to grab the doorhandle to stable herself.

"No," she groaned. "She was at the bar. She brought me to my room."

Now that certainly spiked Naomi's interest. "What?! You were at the bar with her? Why didn't you tell me you were going to see her?"

Tegan waddled to the kitchen, opening several drawers while she was trying to remember where she'd put her paracetamol strip.

"No, I wasn't _with her_ at the bar." She said, frowning because she couldn't find the medicine.

Naomi walked up to her, holding the strip in front of her face. She tried to take it from her, but Naomi moved it so that it was just out of her reach.

She gave her a challenging look. "First, you tell me about her."

Tegan groaned. "I'm definitely gonna need a pill for that, first."

Naomi wasn't a monster, so she handed her the strip and filled up a new glass of water for her. They sat down at the kitchen table that Mila was currently sitting underneath. She was playing out a very detailed story with her Lego; they could hear her talking about 'the elves' and 'the baby rabbits' so she was probably going wild as always.

Tegan took a deep breath and she looked at her friend with a finger pointed at her, as though she wanted to warn her for what she was about to get into. "Alright, I'll tell you, but it's a long ass story."

Naomi nodded and put on the waterboiler to make them both a cup of tea.

When she sat back down, Tegan started talking.

She told her everything - how they met, how they became friends, how Tegan had wanted to be more than friends for a while, how she had stood by Annalise's side when the whole world turned against her, how Frank and Bonnie had died and how Annalise had just ran off after that. When she was finished, she felt a whole lot lighter herself. She had never actually told anybody the full story, and it felt really nice to not carry it all by herself.

Naomi had been quiet through it all, only making short comments here and there if she didn't understand something, and now that she had heard everything, she looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"Oh my God, Tegan," she spoke slowly. She was caressing Mila's hair, who had climbed onto her lap a while ago and was now drawing something that vaguely looked like a fish

Tegan took a sip of her now cold tea. "Yeah... So do you understand why I don't want you talking to her now?"

Naomi still looked puzzled. She was looking at Mila's drawing. but her mind was still trying to process everything.

"Well..." she bit her lip as she looked up at her friend again. "The story does sound a bit familiar, to be fair."

Tegan frowned, but when she understood what her friend meant, she scoffed loudly. "No, that's totally different."

She stood up from her chair and walked into the kitchen to finally make some breakfast.

"Not really," Naomi said. She had followed her into the kitchen and was leaning against the cabinets while Tegan was heating up butter in a pan.

"Just think about it," she continued. "Maybe that's why you're hurting so much right now. We've both done the same thing to you."

Tegan closed the door of the fridge with a loud bang. "Stop that. What you did was a _long_ time ago. You're a different person now, you said it yourself."

She cracked some eggs into the pan and started scrambling them - or, rather, she was molesting them with a spatula.

"Well, I don't know the situation as well as you do-"

"That's right," Tegan said firmly. "So you don't get to judge me."

She turned around to the little girl, who was still in complete focus on her drawing. "You want eggs, Mila?"

She ignored Naomi's prying eyes as she served Mila her breakfast. The blonde rolled her eyes and went to sit with her daughter, helping her eat the eggs without spilling too much.

Tegan sighed deeply when Naomi finally left her alone. She felt... weird. Because unlike what she had just told her friend, there might be some truth to her words. The only true difference between the two situations was that she had given one of the women who once hurt her her time, love and a vacation, while the other one had only received her cold shoulder.

Maybe she _was_ being a bit unfair. 


	11. The Delight of the Rapper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> even cold shoulders can heat up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're getting somewhere.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!
> 
> You're also very very welcome to come talk to me on my Instagram @meestalwel :)
> 
> Enjoy!!!

Tegan was leaning against the wall, texting one of her co-partners while she tried to ignore the loud music that was surrounding her. It was karaoke night again, but she was trying to stay a bit more on the downlow this time. Naomi had just left to go to the toilet, so she was holding the baby monitor for her. If Mila were to make a sound, the small machine would start buzzing and it was even connected to a small camera they'd placed in her room, so that they could watch over her when they were out of the room. It was only a one-minute elevator ride away, after all.

Her co-partner, Ashley, was one of her favorite colleagues at her new firm. She was one of the few people in her life that she considered a friend, and she had been on top of her ever since she'd told her about Annalise being in the same hotel as them. Ashley was Annalise's biggest fan, so it shouldn't have surprised her.

Ashley: _so she walked you back to your room?!_

Tegan could almost hear her friends' enthusiasm through her words.

Tegan: _Yes._

Ashley was quiet for half a minute, before she replied: _god she's such an angel_

Tegan chuckled. It was the first time this holiday that she wasn't repulsed by the way Ashley spoke about Annalise.

Right when she started typing again, she saw the woman in question walk into the bar. She was standing next to a tall, Mexican looking guy who was leaning over her so he could hear what she was saying.

The latina grinned widely. Ashley was going to love this.

Tegan: _I_ _actually have eyes on her right now!_

Ashley: _B I T C H_

_STOP IT_

_r u serious?!?!_

_pics or it didn't happen_

Tegan bit her lip. She was far from a trained paparazi. How awkward would it be if Annalise saw her taking a picture of her?

There was only one way to find out.

She lifted her phone up and thanked Jesus when she remembered to turn off her flashlight. Then, she snapped a picture as quick as it could.

Annalise hadn't looked up and Tegan cheered for herself silently.

The result was kind of blurry, but Annalise looked _stunning._ She was wearing a crimson red, flowy jumpsuit and her earrings matched her outfit, as well as her lipstick. Tegan was definitely enjoying the view.

And so was Ashley, judging by her texts: _asjhfghkq_

_she's a fucking goddess_

_if you don't want to kiss her anymore at least ask her if I can!!!!!_

Tegan bit her lip to stop herself from smiling at that. She shouldn't have told her about her past feelings for the woman. She just wouldn't shut up about it now.

Ashley: _Please?_

Tegan: _I'll put in a good word for you_

At that moment, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. When she looked up, she found the green eyes of the man who she had just spotted talking to Annalise. The woman herself was nowhere to be found.

"Hey! I think you know my friend."

Tegan furrowed her brow, not really knowing what to do with that information.

"Ehm, hi..."

The man looked like he just remembered something very important as he slapped his own forehead. "Ah! Sorry. I'm Carlos." His smile was wide, but it looked completely genuine. Tegan shook his hand as he held it out.

"Tegan," she said, shortly, reflecting his smile just a little.

"Nice to meet you, Tegan! And you know Annalise, right?" He sounded interested, as if it was just a casual question.

She tried to find traces of an alterior motive on his face, but he really did look genuine. "Yes. Or- well, I _knew_ her, yes."

Carlos looked like he was okay with that answer. "Ah, great! So, you can help me with my plan, then."

His words were only making Tegan more and more confused. Where the hell was he going with this?

Right when he was about to explain what he meant, they were joined by someone else.

"Hey-" Annalise looked surprised when she saw Tegan standing behind Carlos. "Tegan?"

"Hi," she greeted her quickly.

"Yes! I needed some help." Carlos looked back at Tegan while he wrapped his arm around the woman beside him.

"So, Tegan, I'm trying to convince Annalise over here that she needs to get up on that stage and sing her guts out. I just did it and you did it last week and I think she should do it, too! I'm sure you'll be a great singer." He looked at her as he pinched her waist with that last comment. 

Now, that was a request Tegan hadn't expected. She raised her eyebrows slowly, looking from his sparkling eyes to Annalise, who looked like she wanted to disappear. She had her arms crossed and was purposely _not_ looking at Tegan, who was enjoying this look on the woman thoroughly. It might be a bit sadistic of her to be entertained by Annalise's discomfort, but it wasn't like she didn't deserve to be the one suffering for once.

Tegan was going to play this game.

She smacked her lips as she let her eyes go over Annalise's form. "I don't think she will."

Annalise tilted her head a little, clearly paying full attention to what Tegan was saying but not wanting to show it. She was still facing the ground.

"You know, Carlos..." Tegan laid her hand on the man's wide shoulder. "She looks tough, but she has the worst case of stage fright you'll ever see."

That was a full-blown lie. Everyone knew that Annalise Harkness _lived_ for her closing speeches in the courtroom. She loved having all eyes on her when she was taking the floor.

She looked at Annalise, waiting for a response.

When she didn't move an inch, she continued, "It's probably for the better. If she got up on that stage, she would sing Carly Rae Jepsen or something. She has _terrible_ taste."

Carlos was muttering something along the lines of "you're wrong" and "this was a mistake", but neither woman was paying attention to him at that moment. Tegan had presented Annalise with a challenge. And if there was one thing that Annalise couldn't back down from...

She looked up at her through her lashes, a small smile plastered on her face. She looked like she had just been switched to fight-mode.

Tegan grinned. This was the Annalise she knew.

Annalise pulled herself loose from Carlos' grip with force and walked off, leaving him very, very confused.

Tegan shrugged when he looked at her for help. "Maybe you just don't know her that well."

At that moment, she spotted Naomi on the other side of the room. She excused herself from Carlos, who still looked completely lost, and made her way over to her.

"Hey!" She greeted her friend, who smiled when she saw Tegan's face.

"Ah, there you are. I think I just saw-"

"Yeah, I know," Tegan interrupted her. She had a mischievious look on her face and it made Naomi kind of scared. Since when was Annalise being here not a bad thing?

"You want to leave?"

The shorter woman shook her head. "Oh no, I'm staying. You want a cocktail?"

They were halfway through their drinks when Tegan saw Carlos coming towards them.

"Hey!" He greeted her. "Have you seen Annalise? She was just with me, but-"

Tegan held a finger to her lips as the next performer was being announced. The presenter called Annalise's name loud and clear.

She grinned wide when she saw Carlos turn to face the stage right away.

"Oh my God..." He whispered.

Naomi looked just as surprised. "Is she-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the grin on Tegan's face. "Did you know about this?!"

Tegan pursed her lips, still smiling through it. The intro was already starting and she felt a shiver run through her body when she heard the song Annalise had picked.

She recognized the bassline of _Rapper's Delight_ instantly. They had sung that song countless times.

It was something they had gotten into when they were working together on a case. Whenever one of them needed to be cheered up somehow, this song was their go-to strategy. With both of their mental states not being very stable, they had gotten used to each other's breakdowns every once in a while. They found that sometimes, dancing it out was better than talking about it.

Tegan still remembered how surprised she was when she'd discovered that Annalise knew every single lyric to the classic hip hop song. Whenever one of them started playing it, the other would know exactly what to do. Annalise was Wonder Mike, Tegan was Master Gee and they did Big Big Hank's part together. It was also in these moments that Tegan had truly seen Annalise's dancing abilities - the salsa nights just didn't do her justice. She used to give it her _all;_ one time she had even put on a fake gold chain and an old baggy pair of paints to give her performance some extra _jush._ All of it to make Tegan forget about the bad day she'd just had.

Tegan bit her lip when Annalise started rapping. Hearing that woman say "the hip-hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip-hop" would never nottickle her.

Carlos and Naomi were watching the performance with their mouths slightly agape. They were flabbergasted.

Meanwhile, Tegan couldn't stop smiling. She felt her whole body warm up and she shrieked softly when she saw Annalise change her movements when she switched to Big Big Hank's part, just like she would always do when they'd sing it together.

She mouthed the words along and her body started moving with the beat involuntarily. God, she really wanted to be up there with her.

And, actually, why wouldn't she?

Annalise, however, was shitting bricks. She was trying to look confident and sassy and everything else she needed to at least not embarass herself, but the truth was that she felt like a ballerina on a soapy floor. It had been a long time since she'd sang this song, or even listened to it. After she'd left Tegan, it just brought back too many memories. She couldn't listen to it without an immense feeling of guilt coming over her. 

It was only after the first few sentences that she started to get into the flow. This song had always done something to her that she couldn't really explain. It gave her so much energy that she felt like it just came naturally. Even now, standing in front of a whole lot of drunk rich people who were bopping along with her, she could feel the song seeping into her body. She _became_ Wonder Mike.

Suddenly, she heard someone shout _"Say what?"_ After she sung the first line to the chorus. It was way too clear to come from anyone in the audience. Who the hell was interrupting her?

Annalise looked around in confusion, losing her focus and her flow - until she saw Tegan step on stage with a second microphone in her hand.

She felt her whole body light up as Tegan sang with her and encouraged her to get back into it.

"Everybody go, 'Hotel, motel, Holliday Inn!'", they rapped to each other, each watching the other woman with a big smile on their face.

The audience was eating them up, cheering loudly as Tegan took over to do Mister Gee's part and Annalise was pointing towards the smaller woman, asking the audience for an applause for her.

She was happy to step backwards and just move to the rhythm while Tegan was commanding the stage. It was like she was high - watching Tegan dance and perform was hitting her hard. It felt like she was ten years younger.

Tegan was addressing the audience, first, and she rapped the second part of her verse towards Annalise, who stepped back to the front of the stage and danced with her again.

When the chorus came back on, they rapped it towards each other, and the audience joined in with the last line.

"Come on everybody and dance to the beat."

A huge applause followed, some people were even whistling on their fingers, but Annalise didn't care for it one bit. She only had eyes for the woman in front of her, who looked like she was literally _beaming._

She held up her hand, expecting to be left hanging, but it was only a short second before Tegan smacked her hand against hers and held it tight.

They turned towards the audience and Tegan gave them a little wave before she walked off stage.

"God, that was amazing," she said over her shoulder. She was pulling the other woman through the crowd, still holding onto her hand. 

When they had reached a part of the room that was a little less crowded, she finally let go of her hand and turned to face her.

They were both still smiling lightly, though reality was starting to come down on them now. What did this mean? Had Tegan changed her mind? Had anything changed, at all?

Neither woman knew what it meant for their friendship or how they were supposed to behave.

Tegan didn't feel any of the regret she had anticipated, however. Instead, she felt at peace - like something had shifted inside of her and now she could finally breathe. 

"Let me buy you a drink," Tegan finally broke the silence. It sounded more like a statement than a question.

Annalise just nodded in agreement as she followed her to the bar.

On the other side of the bar, Carlos and Naomi were caught up in conversation. It looked like they were thoroughly amusing themselves, but as soon as they spotted the two women on the other side of the bar, they picked up their drinks and came towards them in a hurry.

"Annalise!" Carlos happily exclaimed. He hugged her from behind and gave her a soft shove to the shoulder after he let go. "How did I not know you could do that!"

Annalise smiled widely, watching Naomi talk to Tegan in a pretty similar way. She wondered what their deal was. They seemed close, but howclose exactly?

Shortly after, Naomi turned towards Annalise and threw her arms around her neck. "You were so good!"

She was caught a bit off guard and didn't really lean into the embrace, but she did try to reciprocate by laying her hands on the blonde's back awkwardly.

"She sure is full of surprises," Tegan commented before settling herself on one of the barstools.

Annalise raised her eyebrows. What did that mean?

Carlos wrapped his arm around Annalise's waist, pulling her against his side. "So, how do you all know each other?"

They were silent for a second, before Annalise decided on an answer. "We were colleagues."

She caught Tegan's eyes on her, dark and heavy, the corners of her lips still tugged up into a small smile. 

It made her feel hot.

When she finally tore her eyes from Tegan's, it was only because the barkeeper placed their drinks on the bar. She handed her the tall glass of mango juice, their fingers brushing against each other when she took it from her. Her skin tingled.

Carlos looked between the both of them, trying to find out what was going on, but he just couldn't make sense of it.

At that moment, Naomi's baby monitor lit up. "Oh, fuck," she swore. "I have to go, Mila is climbing out of bed."

Tegan nodded. She would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed to leave already, but she tried not to show it.

When she set her drink down and attempted to get up, however, Naomi stopped her. "I got this. You have a drink to finish." She winked at Tegan before she smiled at Annalise and Carlos, waving them goodbye.

She was out of sight a few seconds later, leaving the other three behind. Tegan and Annalise were leaning on the bar next to each other, while Carlos was just kind of... watching them. He looked like he was trying to solve the enigma code.

"Are you gay?" He suddenly asked.

Annalise almost choked on her lemonade.

Tegan snickered. She avoided his gaze and looked at the ground while she sucked on her straw, trying to hold in her laughter.

"Excuse me?" Annalise looked at him with wide eyes, offended and confused with where that question came from at the same time.

"Well- I just thought... Never mind, I guess," he tried to save himself from the situation. But it was too late for that already.

"What if I was?" Annalise asked. She moved to stand right in front of him now, putting her drink down beside her.

Carlos' cheeks turned pink. "Eh- that would be fine, of course! I mean- I'm not a homophobe."

Annalise was silent for a few seconds while she looked him up and down.

She nodded swiftly. "I didn't think you were."

But he didn't seem too relieved by that comment. In fact, he looked like he felt completely out of place. And he _was_.

Before she could say anything else, he waved to someone standing behind them. "Ah, it's Fay!" He looked at Annalise and smiled awkwardly. "I'm gonna say hi. I'll text you later!"

He kissed Annalise on her cheek and quickly walked away from them.

Tegan watched him leave with a big grin on her face, which made Annalise chuckle when she saw it.

"Men..." Tegan sighed. She took a sip while she looked at Annalise from the corner of her eyes.

"Tell me about it," Annalise agreed. It got a small laugh out of Tegan, who was using her straw to stir in her drink now.

The taller woman watched her closely. She looked... at ease. Like nothing had ever happened between them. It made her wish it was true.

They were quiet for a moment; Annalise's eyes on Tegan and Tegan's on her drink. She was glad it didn't really feel like a silence with someone singing (or, screaming) _Living On a Prayer_ at the top of their lungs in the background.

"I totally forgot to thank you."

Annalise frowned. "For what?"

Tegan sighed deeply. "Last night. I was..." she was looking for the right words for it and smacked her lips. "A wreck."

The other woman laughed through her nose. "Yeah, you were pretty far gone."

Tegan looked down at her glass, feeling yesterday night's embarassment creep up on her again.

"I get it now, though." Annalise looked at her softly. She really wanted to touch Tegan, hold her hand or her arm or at least give her some kind of support, but she wasn't sure if Tegan would appreciate physical contact.

She looked at her puzzled. "What?"

"Yesterday was the 20th, right?"

Tegan swallowed thick. She felt her eyes get wet just a little as a knot formed in her stomach.

_Annalise_ _remembered._

"Yeah," she said, too soft to be heard over the music, but Annalise didn't need to.

She laid her hand on top of Tegan's and stroked the back of it with her thumb. The latina turned her hand around hesitantly, lacing their fingers together shortly after. She didn't dare to look at the other woman, but maybe this was enough.

Yesterday had been the eightteenth anniversary of her parents' plane crash.

She swallowed once again, not wanting to give in to those feelings right now. Not when the evening had been nothing but good.

Annalise squeezed her hand and she finally dared to look her in the eyes. She had the softest look on her face - all soft smiles and eyes. Tegan wished she could look at her like this forever.

Their moment was put to an end by a drunk woman bumping into them. She apologized vaguely, but the damage was already done. Annalise let go of Tegan's hand and straightened her back.

When the woman returned to the dancefloor, she looked back at the woman next to her.

"I was thinking about going to a salsa night at a bar in town tomorrow," Annalise suddenly blurted out. "You wanna come?"

Tegan was slightly surprised by her request. If she'd asked the same thing yesterday, she wouldn't have thought about it, but her talk with Naomi kept going through her mind. Maybe she did deserve a chance. If it was going to be as fun as the current night was, then why not?

The latina pursed her lips. "Depends... Is Carlos going to be there, too?"

Annalise chuckled and leaned in slightly, so she could say her next words at a little lower volume, directly into Tegan's ear. "He could never keep up with us."

That comment got Tegan to grin wide. Memories of them at the salsa bar in Philadelphia flashed through her mind. Those were still some of the best nights of her life.

She bit her lip to hide her smile a little, but she just couldn't help it.

"I'll be there."


	12. The Salsa Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite ladies know how to have a good time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I don't really know when to change the rating so I just did it now to be safe.
> 
> They're finally getting it on y'all!!!
> 
> Let me know what you think! :)

"So..." Naomi was cutting up Mila's pancake into pieces when she looked at Tegan across the table. "How was it?"

The other woman feigned innocence as she pierced a piece of pineapple with her fork. "How was what?"

"Oh, don't do that!" 

Tegan chuckled. She bit her lip, thinking about how she would describe it. "I mean, it was..." She swallowed the piece of fruit. "It was nice."

Mila was trying to follow along with the conversation while her mother was preparing her breakfast. "What did you do?" 

"I..." Yeah, what did she do, exactly? And how was she going to explain it to a three-year-old? 

She settled on "I made a friend," which made Mila smile. 

"Yay! Like me and Sofia!" 

She had played with another girl who was around her age at the beach yesterday. They'd only known each other for a few hours but Mila had declared her her best friend for life already. 

Tegan wished things were so easy.

"Yes! Exactly. In fact, I'm going to meet up with her again tonight." 

That sparked a response from Naomi more than her daughter. She'd finished slicing up the pancake, so the little girl had started devouring it right away.

"Really?"

Tegan nodded while she took a sip of her coffee. "Yeah. I figured it might be worth a chance."

The blonde smiled wide and she shrieked softly. "Yes!" She took her friend's hand in hers. "I'm proud of you."

Her excitement made Tegan a little nervous, though. What if it didn't go well? Naomi would be extremely disappointed if she fucked this up tonight. It added an extra layer of pressure which she didn't really know how to cope with.

"Well, it's only dancing. We'll see how it goes," She freed her hand from Naomi's grip to pick up a grape.

Naomi looked at her with a knowing look, her smile turning into a smirk. "You're going _dancing?"_

"Yup," Tegan popped the 'p' as she spoke with her mouth full. "There's a salsa night in a bar in town. Annalise wanted to go." She shrugged it off lightly, but they both knew what Naomi was hinting at.

When Tegan had told her about what happened between her and Annalise, she had mentioned the salsa nights in quite a bit of detail.

They used to go out dancing every once in a while - not often enough for it to be a _thing,_ but it did mean something to Tegan. Or maybe being physically close to Annalise did.

In the beginning, they had just danced to the music in whatever way they liked, but Annalise quickly became interested in the dance style and Tegan was happy to teach her. Little did she know that being body to body with her regularly would make her feel so... captivated. When Annalise danced, it was like the room lit up. Especially when they danced together, Tegan just couldn't think about anything but the woman in front of her. The sight of her moving her body in such a sensual way just swallowed her up.

Sometimes, they had even danced in one of their living rooms if they didn't feel like being watched by other people. Those nights were Tegan's favorite.

They also left her thirsty, though. Those nights usually ended with her fucking herself into a much-needed orgasm, wishing it was Annalise's fingers instead of her own.

So when she mentioned dancing with Annalise to Naomi, it wasn't very surprising that her thoughts went there. Judging by how she'd felt yesterday night, when Annalise had held her hand, chances were that it would be a challenge to keep her mind straight tonight.

Annalise was going to pick her up at 9.

It was 08:55 and Tegan was _nervous._

She pressed her dress down on her legs for the nineteenth time while she looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a tight dark purple dress with a slight shine to it and her curls were hanging over her shoulders. She looked great. Cute, but sexy.

Naomi was watching her from their small kitchen table. She stood up and made her way over to her friend. She stood behind her as she laid her hands on Tegan's upper arms. "Relax, girl. You look hot."

Tegan let out a deep breath as she leant into Naomi's embrace. "I know," she groaned. "I'm just nervous."

Naomi smiled. She hugged Tegan tighter and laid her head on her shoulder. "You're gonna be fine, Tee. Just call me if it does get awkward, I'll come pick you up or call you an Uber or something."

That thought didn't really ease Tegan's mind. She hoped it wouldn't get to that point.

"But I'm sure that won't happen," Naomi quickly added when she saw her friend's face. She turned her around in her arms, holding the shorter woman by her shoulders. "It's just dancing. You're gonna be fine."

She closed her eyes, trying to soak in her friend's words.

"Mommy!" Mila called from the bathroom, indicating that she was finished on the toilet.

Naomi squeezed Tegan's arms one last time before she went to check on her daugther.

And then, there were two knocks on the door.

Tegan's breath hitched. She turned around, desperate for some more calming words from Naomi, but she had gone into the bathroom already. She wasn't ready for this. It wasn't too late to cancel; she could just say she wasn't feeling well or that she needed to take care of Mila or something.

Three more knocks on the door, a bit louder this time.

Tegan took a deep breath.

She gave herself one more look in the mirror and pulled her dress straight. She was Tegan fucking Price, a bit of salsa dancing with Annalise didn't scare her.

The door swung open, and she had to stop herself from gasping when she saw the other woman's figure standing in the hallway. She looked breathtaking.

Annalise, however, didn't even try to hide her appreciation. Her eyes roamed over Tegan's body before she had even said hello. It made Tegan feel very self-conscious, but that feeling wore off when she saw the look on Annalise's face. Her mouth was slightly opened and she looked just as nervous as Tegan felt.

"Hi," she finally greeted her when her eyes were back at Tegan's face again.

"Hey, come in. I just need to grab my phone." She opened the door a little further and Annalise stepped into their room.

"Is she here yet?" Naomi called from the bathroom.

"Yes," Tegan quickly replied. "But we're leaving now."

Naomi walked into the room with Mila on her arm. The little girl had just been changed into her pyjamas, and she was holding her favorite stuffed animal.

"Oh, sure." The blonde smiled wide as she looked at Annalise.

Tegan walked over to her and gave Mila a peck on her forehead. "Sleep tight, princess."

But Mila didn't look anywhere near sleepy. She eyed Annalise curiously, and Naomi wondered if she might be remembering her from the beach.

"Is that your friend?" Mila asked, her eyes still on Annalise.

Tegan chuckled. She looked over her shoulder to find Annalise smiling, too. "Yes. This is Annalise."

Mila looked back at Tegan now, leaning into her to whisper something in her ear. "She's pretty."

The latina felt her cheeks heat up at that comment. She really hoped no one else had heard it, because her next words were out of her mouth before she knew it. "She sure is!"

Mila wrapped her short arms around Tegan's neck and pressed a wet kiss to her cheek before she let go of her.

"Have fun!" Naomi smiled at the both of them. They looked like two teenagers going to prom, but at the same time the air in the room was so heavy that it was hard to forget the tension between them.

Mila waved them goodbye, yawning now that the show was about to be over.

Annalise waved back at her and Tegan blew her a kiss. "Sleep well!"

Tegan closed the door behind behind them and they walked towards the elevator.

"That girl is the cutest." She smiled when she looked at the older woman.

"She really is. Yesterday, she asked me what the word 'lesbian' meant, and when I told her, she said she wanted to be a lesbian when she grows up."

Annalise chuckled and she bit her lip. This might be the right moment to ask her the one thing she had been wondering about all week. "Is Naomi..."

Tegan interrupted her before she could finish. "No." She laughed softly. "She's just about the straightest person I've ever met."

And Annalise would definitely deny it if Tegan asked, but she did feel a bit of relief to hear that.

"Aha," she replied dryly. She sucked in her lips and raised her eyebrows as she said, "well, that's completely valid, too, of course. I'm not a heterophobe."

Tegan snickered. The joke wasn't really that funny, but she held onto it dearly. They could use something to lighten up the mood.

During the uber ride to the bar, neither of them dared to open their mouths. The driver filled the silence gladly by talking to his friend on the phone, and judging by the amused look on Tegan's face, it was a very interesting conversation.

Annalise couldn't understand a word they were saying, and when Tegan saw her looking at her in confusion, she smirked.

"He's cheating," she mouthed.

Annalise opened her mouth and placed her hand in front of it, pretending to be shocked. "Married?" she mouthed back while she pointed at her finger.

Tegan nodded when she heard the man talking about his "esposa." The driver was in a bit of a mood and it soon became clear why.

"She found out," Tegan mouthed again, while she pointed at the man behind the wheel.

Annalise played up her part in putting on a very affected face, while she was actually thoroughly enjoying this real life soap that was playing out before their eyes. Finally, some drama that was not about her.

Then, Tegan's eyes grew wide from what he was telling his friend.

"It was her sister!" she whispered, still inaudible to the driver's ears.

Annalise threw her head back against the headrest, rolling her eyes as she was expressing her disappointment towards the man.

When they reached their destination, Annalise tipped him generously. For the entertainment.

The bar was cosy. It was nothing like the salsa bar in Philly, which was probably a good sign. There were a couple of posters on the walls and it was a lot less dark than they were used to, but that was all okay.

The biggest difference was the music; it was playing at a very low volume that would be a little awkward to dance to. No one else was dancing, either. It wasn't very inviting.

The two women looked at each other in hesitation when they stepped into the bar.

"Eh..." Annalise started, looking around the room. Carlos had recommended this place to her, saying that she'd be guaranteed to have a good night here, but maybe their definitions of having a good time were different?

"Let's have a drink first," Tegan offered, to which Annalise agreed. They sat down in one of the few booths against the wall and the waiter came by as soon as they sat down.

Tegan ordered two of the same drinks before Annalise had even looked at the menu. The drinks she'd just named didn't ring a bell, either, so she was left looking at the other woman curiously.

"Don't worry, you'll like it," Tegan reassured her when she caught her look.

Annalise raised her eyebrows as she smiled at the woman in front of her. She laid her elbows on the table, resting her head on her folded hands. "You've grown cocky."

The latina grinned mischeviously and shrugged. "I've always been cocky."

It was true. It suited her.

Annalise pursed her lips. She took a napkin and started to fold it in half. "Shame. I was just about to tell you how good you look, but I guess I'll keep it to myself, then. Don't wanna add to the fire." She looked up at Tegan through her lashes, her eyes glittering teasingly.

Tegan swallowed thick. Their eyes locked and she could feel Annalise's look burning all the way down to her stomach.

At that moment, the waiter reappeared next to their table. He set their drinks on the table and Tegan thanked him.

Annalise inspected her glass and looked up to Tegan, who was watching her. "Try it," she encouraged her. "There's no alcohol in it."

Annalise moved the straw towards her mouth and took a small sip. Oh, it was _good._

Tegan smiled wide when she saw the approval on her face. "What did I tell you?" She pulled a smug look and took a sip from her own glass.

"What is it?"

"Agua de Jamaica. It's made from a flower, I think, But it's good, right?" 

Annalise nodded as she took another sip. "Yes, I like it." She put her drink down on the table again as she moved an ice cube around in her mouth. Her thoughts were wandering off.

Last night was still very fresh on her mind. She hadn't expected Tegan to let her come so close this soon, but she more than welcomed it. Being on stage with her, dancing and singing with her again, had made her feel better than she had in months. Tegan just had some kind of energy air over her that made her feel at ease when they were together. Even if they weren't on good terms. Maybe it was that she exuded confidence - even in a wavy sundress, she was a boss bitch, or maybe it was a part of the connection they once had that still existed.

All she knew was that, now, sitting in front of her, that same calm feeling was washing over her again. And it felt good, but she doubted whether it was justified. There was always a voice in the back of her mind telling her that she shouldn't go too fast. She wanted to give Tegan the time and the space she needed to open up to her again; if she was planning on doing so in the first place.

However, she was also very eager to make things right with her.

"So... What made you change your mind?" She asked, after a few seconds of silence.

Small wrinkles appeared on Tegan's forehead as she tried to figure out what Annalise was asking. "About what?"

"Well, you told me to stay away from you - and I tried, I _really_ did - but now you're... here. So what changed?"

Tegan bit her lip as she looked down at the table. Did anything change? Not really... Just her thoughts about Annalise. Naomi had actually been kind of right when she'd compared what she had done to her after highschool to Annalise's actions two years ago. Except that Annalise had known how lonely Tegan was and _still_ left her, and that she was a grown-ass woman instead of a seventeen-year-old.

Before she'd seen her yesterday night, she wouldn't have thought that she'd be sitting across her right now. But having fun with her had felt _so good._ Why would she deprive herself of that when it took such little effort? All she had to do was let herself go a bit more.

"I don't know if there was just one thing that changed. It was more of a shift in paradigm. My thoughts-" She swallowed. "My _feelings_ changed."

Annalise stayed silent and she kept her eyes on Tegan, watching her closely. "So... Where are your feelings at right now?"

Tegan locked her eyes with hers and sighed deeply. She took another sip of her drink and sat back in her chair. "I'm not sure. I just know that I had a great time last night and that it made me think about things." She tilted her head to the side, still looking at the woman in front of her. "I know this might hurt me. I mean- it probably will once we go back home, but I figured it might be worth a try. Maybe it's more exhausting to avoid you than to just face it."

Annalise nodded as she let Tegan's words sink in. She smiled lightly. "I'm glad you're here, though."

Tegan gave her a watery smile, stirring through her drink with her straw. "And you?"

The other woman frowned, waiting for her to explain her question.

"Why are you here?"

Annalise licked her lips as she breathed in through her nose. "I hate seeing you unhappy. Especially if it's because of something I did. And I understand why you're mad. I'm not stupid, but..." She bit her lip. "If there's any chance that you'd let me make up for what I did, I'd love to take it."

Tegan couldn't look at Annalise. Her eyes were pointed towards her glass, that was still half full.

"And..." Annalise continued. She hesitated for a short second, about if she should say what she felt and if she should do what she wanted to but then she placed her hand over Tegan's on the table. "I missed you," she softly admitted.

Tegan felt her eyes burning. She hadn't expected to get emotional from hearing those words, but it was deeper than she thought, apparently. She wanted to ask her a lot of questions; why she didn't just come back, why she hadn't called her, why she hadn't just let her in, but she couldn't. Not right now. Instead, she swallowed her words.

When she looked at Annalise, she could see that her eyes were watery, too. At least she wasn't the only one hurting, then.

She turned her hand around and squeezed the other woman's hand softly. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from ruining her mascara, when she felt Annalise's other hand on her face. Her thumb swiped across her cheek softly, wiping a fallen tear from her face. Tegan's breath hitched in her throat as she opened her eyes immediately.

Annalise was watching her, her face all warm and soft, just like yesterday. Tegan wanted to cry even more because of it.

She tried to get herself back together. She pulled her hand from Annalise's grip, patted her eyes dry and took a deep breath, though it was still shuddering. "I wasn't expecting to cry on salsa night," she tried to lighten the mood.

Annalise picked up on her cue to change the subject. Maybe this was enough of their unresolved issues for tonight. She sat back in her chair and looked around the bar. It was a little more crowded now, but it still didn't look like a dance bar at all. "Me neither. Speaking of dancing, I don't think it's going to hap-"

At that moment, the lights dimmed and a few of the other guests cheered happily. The barkeeper announced something over the speakers that made Tegan's eyes lit up. It was 10.30, so the salsa part only started now. The music was turned up and some people were heading towards the dancefloor already.

"What were you saying?" Tegan teased the woman opposite her, who rolled her eyes.

Annalise stood up from her seat and stepped to the other side of the table. She held out her hand. "Miss Price," she adressed Tegan, who turned around and looked up at her expectantly. "May I have this dance?"

Tegan smiled widely as she laid her hand in Annalise's. "You sure may, Miss Harkness." She jumped on her feet, slightly misjudging the space she would have, so she was literally face to face with the older woman.

She swallowed when neither of them moved for a second, but Annalise soon came to her senses and pulled Tegan with her to the dance floor.

The other guests definitely knew what they were doing. They were swaying to the music with precision and without holding back for one bit. Annalise felt slightly intimidated by their dancing skills, but she had also learned a few tricks during the las few years.

Tegan, however, had no eyes for anyone else on the dancefloor. She could only look at Annalise. Her dark orange sleeveless top showed off her arms neatly, and her flowy pants did little to hide the movements of her hips. She had gotten _good._

"Someone has been taking lessons!" She exclaimed, watching Annalise's body move like it came naturally.

The older woman smiled widely as she showed off some of the things she'd learned. Tegan stopped dancing for a minute and watched Annalise do her thing. She would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed.

Annalise felt Tegan's eyes burning on her body. It only added to the feeling of freedom that dancing gave her anyway.

Tegan cheered her on, clapping to the music, until Annalise moved her finger towards Tegan. She made a "come hither" movement as she invited her to come closer.

She couldn't resist, of course.

Without hesitation, she stepped towards the taller woman, who took her hands and smiled wide as she continued to dance. Tegan joined her movements, in sync with her almost immediately.

They danced like they were the only ones on the dancefloor. They took turns in who was leading and both women were having the time of their lives. Neither of them stopped smiling for one second.

As song after song was played, the dancefloor started to fill up with people. They had to dance a little closer to each other to avoid bumping into other people, which wasn't a problem, until it started to come down on Tegan how small their dancing space had become.

They were basically in each other's arms now. She didn't really mind, but it did make her quite self-conscious. Being so close to Annalise always messed with her mind a little bit.

Annalise didn't seem to mind at all. When a somewhat slower song came on, she pulled Tegan in a little more to lay one hand on her waist. "This okay?" She asked, very close to her ear so she could hear her over the music.

The latina nodded swiftly. She swallowed thick as she placed her right hand behind Annalise's neck, her left one interlaced with Annalise's right. Their hips were moving in unison.

Something about this felt extremely intimate. Their faces were only inches away from each other - they had _never_ been this close.

She was glad when Annalise guided her to spin on her heels again, allowing her to breathe just a little before her body was even closer to Annalise than it had been before. To her own surprise, Annalise had turned her around, which placed her with her back towards her now. She could feel Annalise's breath down the side of her face.

Annalise laid both hands on Tegan's hips now, guiding her movements ever so slightly while she moved her hips in sync with hers.

Tegan's eyes were halfway closed. Her body subconcsiously moved closer and closer towards the woman behind her, so it wasn't long before her backside was pressed flush against Annalise's front. The concept of salsa dancing was long gone. What they were doing was closer to just grinding against each other than any type of dancing at all.

She didn't know what was happening. She was _extremely_ turned on by Annalise's movements and her hands on her body, and it felt like her body had taken over from her mind. Her movements came automatically.

Until Tegan felt Annalise's breath in her neck again and she felt her pinch her hips softly. Her left hand moved to lay on her stomach and her right was slightly moving up and down Tegan's side. Annalise had never touched her like this and it made her heart pound in her throat.

Tegan lifted her arm and reached for Annalise over her shoulder. She placed her hand on her neck again, moving her fingers against her soft skin slowly.

She was very aware of her ass grinding against Annalise's front with every move they made. It was probably fair - if Annalise could tease her like this, then she could at least return the favor.

The song was already nearing its end when she heard Annalise make a sound that only added to her arrousal. _She moaned._

It wasn't long and it wasn't loud, but it was a moan nonetheless, and that was a sound that Tegan had only ever heard in her dreams.

The last beats of the song were played and their movements slowly came to a stop.

Tegan turned herself back around hesitantly, not really knowing if she was ready to face Annalise just yet. When she saw the other woman's chest heaving from her labored breathing, she knew that she was at least as affected by this as she was - if not more. Her pupils had widened immensely and she looked like she was ready to _attack._

Tegan swallowed. She straightened her dress and turned her eyes away from Annalise. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Annalise didn't respond. She needed a few seconds to recollect herself.

When Tegan closed the door of the stall behind her, she sat down on the toilet as she tried to steady herself. What the hell had just happened?!

She knew how she reacted to Annalise when they danced, but Annalise had never acted on anything until now. And worst of all: she wasn't feeling the slightest bit of regret.

Feeling her hands on her had been amazing - not to speak of the feeling of her hot breath down her neck, and then that moan...

Tegan could feel how wet she was without having to touch herself.

But she also knew that having sex with Annalise would only make things more difficult. She wasn't ready to forgive her yet, and if they did sleep together it would only make it more painful when they had to go their own ways again. It was not a good plan. She really had to stop thinking about it.

But how do you stop thinking about the only thing that's on your mind?


	13. The Power of Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things come to an end - even salsa night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short, but I promise the next one will be longer again.
> 
> Thanks for the lovely comments on the last chapter! Reading your thoughts on the story really makes writing it double the fun :)

They didn't stay at the club for much longer after their dancing had turned so heated. When Tegan had come back from the bathroom, Annalise was at the bar having another drink. Tegan had joined her and they'd casually talked about other people's dancing skills, but they were both a bit anxious to get back on the dancefloor themselves.

Annalise could also feel herself get a little weary. It wasn't that she was bored or anything; she just hadn't slept well the night before because she had been so nervous about this evening, and now she was paying the price.

Tegan noticed Annalise's yawns and got a tight feeling in her chest. Was she not having a good time? It looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here. Had she read her previous signs all wrong, then?

Tegan cleared her throat. "Shall I call us a cab?"

The other woman teared her eyes away from the dancefloor which she had been staring at absentmindedly, to find Tegan watching her with a strangely neutral expression on her face. She didn't want to leave yet, but if she was honest with herself, she knew she'd regret it if she stayed.

She nodded and stood up from her seat to pay the bartender what they were due, plus a very generous tip.

Tegan swallowed as she watched Annalise move so quickly. It was almost like she couldn't wait for this night to be over.

"Alright," she said, her voice sounding more airy than she wished it did. "I'm just gonna go outside so they can hear me."

When she stepped outside, it felt like she could breathe for a second. She hadn't expected Annalise to act this way just after they'd been so intimate with each other and she couldn't help but feel like she had done something wrong.

She called a taxi in a very business-matter. No one who heard her speaking on the phone would ever know something was up, but when she saw Annalise walk up to her and then stand still beside her, leaning against the wall, she definitely didn't feel alright.

She could feel Annalise's eyes burning on her skin as she finished the call.

"I love hearing you speak Spanish," she said softly. It sounded more like an admission to herself than to Tegan, but that didn't make it any less true.

Tegan looked at her a little confused. Where was she going with these mixed signals?

She put her phone back in her purse and folded her arms, looking down the street to check if the cab was already nearing. It wasn't - of course. It wouldn't be for at least ten more minutes.

Annalise bumped her shoulder into hers. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

Tegan smiled lightly as Annalise pinched her waist, clearly trying to get any kind of response out of her. "Stop," she told her off quietly.

The other woman leaned back against the wall, still smiling lightly as she yawned again. "I'm so tired," she spoke with her mouth still open.

The younger woman looked over to her, thinking about her earlier behaviour. Maybe she had read to much into it.

"Comes with age," Tegan teased her.

Annalise grinned as she nudged Tegan's shoulder again. "Bitch." 

The shorter woman chuckled and they were both quiet for a few seconds, enjoying the moment.

It was Annalise who broke the silence. "I had a great time, though."

Tegan felt her face heat up as she showed a small smile. "Me too," she said softly.

They were quiet again after that, but it was a comfortable silence. Annalise took her hand in hers and was moving her thumb over the back of it slowly, and Tegan found it hard to focus on anything else.

The cab came sooner than they'd expected. Annalise opened Tegan's door for her before she could reach the handle, looking extremely pleased with herself as she signed that Tegan could get in. "Milady," she encouraged her, which caused Tegan to shake her head in laughter. She did get into the car though, and Annalise joined her soon on the other side.

The driver was much less chatty this time, but that wasn't a bad thing. The ride was quite short anyway.

But after only a few minutes, Tegan could see Annalise's eyes fall shut. She could see her fighting it, trying to stay awake, but it was getting harder and harder. Tegan just thought it looked cute.

She placed her arm around the other woman's back as she moved a bit closer to her, and it wasn't long before she felt her head on her shoulder.

Tegan smiled. She softly caressed her arm as she could feel her slowly breathing in and out against her. Holding Annalise like this made her whole body warm.

Her breathing was calming her down and she was enjoying the feeling of her warm skin against hers.

"Annalise," she spoke softly, but very close to her ear.

The woman didn't respond, so she moved her shoulder a little bit as she softly rubbed the back of her hand against her cheek. "Hey," she smiled when she saw her open her eyes.

Annalise sat up straight and looked around the cab, trying to figure out why they were standing still.

"We're here," Tegan cleared up and Annalise looked at her with wide eyes.

"Oh shit," she looked at Tegan's dress and saw a stain on her chest which made her blush. "I drooled on you," she pointed it out to Tegan, who hadn't noticed until then.

She raised her eyebrows when she saw it. "Oh, wow," she commented drily. "I didn't know you were _that_ old." She got out of the car before Annalise could say anything else, but she could still hear her scoffing.

She paid the driver and waited for Annalise to get out. When she did, she walked up to Tegan immediately, still a bit slow from just waking up.

They walked into the hotel and went straight into the elevator, where Tegan was looking from the buttons to the woman next to her. "Which floor?"

"Seventh," Annalise answered absentmindedly. She was shivering a little from her tiredness, but she tried not to show it to Tegan.

It didn't work, of course. The woman was nothing if not attentive. "Are you cold?" She sent her a worried look, looking at the goosepumps on her skin.

Annalise didn't even have to answer. Tegan opened her arms and gave her an inviting smile, to which Annalise closed the distance between them and laid her hands on Tegan's upper back. She closed her eyes when she felt Tegan's hands rub her back, trying to get her warmed up a little. It wasn't doing too much, but it did feel _really_ good.

It was nice that she tried.

They only let go when the elevator doors opened. Tegan took her hand to pull her behind her when they walked into the hallway.

"Which room is yours?"

Annalise pointed to the one at the end of the hallway, and Tegan stopped right in front of it.

She watched Annalise closely as she swiped her keycard to unlock the door and then turned back to face her.

Annalise bit her lip when she looked at the woman in front of her. She looked at the stain on Tegan's dress and frowned in disgust. "Oh, God." She rubbed it a little to try and wipe it off, but the damage was already done. "I'm so sorry. I'll clean it for you first thing tomorrow."

Tegan waved it away. It was only one of the many dresses she had in this style, and this was far from her favorite. "It's okay. I'll just dryclean it back home." 

She could still see the guilt in Annalise's eyes, so she laid her hand on her upper arm to try and calm her down. "Really, it's okay."

Annalise sighed. "I swear I don't normally act like an old lady."

Tegan raised her eyebrows at that as she tilted her head playfully. "You sure, girl?"

The other woman rolled her eyes as she chuckled at Tegan's look.

When they were both quiet again, she let out a sigh. "I'd invite you in for another drink, but I think I'm just gonna fall asleep on you again..."

Tegan snickered. "Yeah, I think I've seen enough of that already." That was a lie. She could look at a sleeping Annalise for days.

Annalise bit her lip. She took Tegan's hand between hers and rubbed it softly with both thumbs. "I had fun, though."

The shorter woman looked down, but she couldn't suppress a small smile. "Me too," she admitted.

When she looked up at the older woman again, she was watching her with an intense gaze. It made her squirm.

Annalise stepped forward and Tegan felt like she was nailed to the ground. Her eyes were following Annalise's every move carefully, but they fluttered shut when she saw her leaning in. She felt her hand beneath her chin, lifting her head just a little. Oh, shit. This was happening.

She had imagined this moment countless times. She had always thought that she'd be the one who would take the lead, though. In her dreams, she was always the one who did the kissing, not the one who was being kissed.

Tegan's lips parted just a little - only so she could keep breathing regularly, she told herself.

And then...

Annalise pressed a kiss to Tegan's cheek. It was soft; very gentle, only a brush against her skin, but she felt it through every single cell in her body. Annalise's thumb stroked the smaller woman's jawline as she pulled her lips back and stood straight up again.

Tegan opened her eyes very slowly. She missed the contact immediately when it was gone. When she saw Annalise's face, she knew that it she wasn't the only one. Annalise looked the exact same way as she had after their very intimate dance. Her eyes had turned completely dark, her mouth was slightly agape and Tegan felt like this woman was going to devour her if she wasn't careful.

And she _had_ to be. This was not a good plan.

So before anything else could happen, she cleared her throat and flashed her a small smile. "Sleep well," she said, her voice hoarse.

Annalise seemed to come back to Earth a few seconds after. She nodded swiftly as she took a deep breath. "Good night, Tegan."

"Good night, Annalise."


	14. The Boat Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tegan invites Annalise to spend a day on the water and Annalise can not say no to her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a little longer than usual, since I had a small case of writer's block, but I pushed through and here we are. Please tell me if you find any mistakes.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

_Hey Tegan_

Tegan opened her phone to a text from an unknown number. She had just installed herself on a stretcher by the pool and she had grabbed her phone to put some music on when she saw the text appear.

_Who is this?_

Three dots appeared immediately, indicating that the other person had started typing right away.

_It's Annalise_

Tegan felt herself starting to sweat, her breath hitching in her throat. She hadn't given Annalise her number, so that meant... Had Annalise kept her number in her phone for two years?

Annalise: _Nice bikini_

Tegan sat up straight and looked around the pool. It took her only a few seconds to spot Annalise on the other side of it, waving her fingers at her. She waved back smiling, taking in the sight of Annalise's body in her black bathingsuit. She couldn't see her very well from this distance, but she could clearly see her skin glowing in the sunlight and that was enough to make her mouth water.

Tegan: _Thanks,_ _I like your suit too_

She watched Annalise read the text and she could see a smile appearing on her face.

Another text came in, but in a different conversation.

Naomi: _I got the catamaran!_

They were going out sailing today. Tegan's parents had always loved it and they had taken her and Naomi on several sailing trips during high school. After that, it was Naomi who had continued the hobby. Not right away, of course. She had gone through a tough couple of years after dropping out, but sailing had played a big part in what made her get back on track. She joined a sailing club as soon as she could miss the money and it became something she'd look forward to doing every weekend. Ever since she'd gotten together with Yuri, she'd started sailing less and she hadn't sailed once since she had Mila. So now, spending two full weeks by the sea, watching all the boats go by, she couldn't wait to get on one.

Tegan was excited, too, and that's when she got an idea. She bit her lip as she switched back to Annalise's chat.

_Are you doing anything today?_

Annalise: _No plans yet, you?_

Tegan: _I'm going sailing with Naomi and Mila. You wanna come?_

She watched Annalise's finger hang in the air for a second before she typed her reply.

Annalise: _I wouldn't want to intrude_

Tegan: _Oh shut up_

_Of course you won't_

She saw Annalise lay back in her chair across the pool.

Annalise: _Ok, count me in._

-

A few hours later, the four of them were waiting to aboard the ship. They were all wearing life jackets over their clothes and they listened to the rental company's employee who was explaining some details about the ship. Mila was on Tegan's arm, and Tegan herself was translating some of the words that the man on the boat didn't know in English. Naomi was paying close attention to what he was saying, so Annalise felt like she was allowed to let her mind wander off and look around the harbour.

It was cosy and small, and the only other people there were a couple of fishermen who were unloading their catch of the day.

Or, they _were_ the only people there, until she saw a man walking towards them at a fast pace. He looked very familiar.

She tapped Tegan on her shoulder and pointed towards him. "Is that..."

The man was shouting something, but he was still too far away for them to understand it. When he got closer, Annalise was only more confused.

What was Carlos doing here?

Tegan looked like she didn't know what was going on, either, but Naomi's eyes lit up when she saw him. "Ah, there you are!" she exclaimed happily as she gave him a tight hug.

Annalise looked at him in confusion, and it looked like it was mutual.

Naomi caught on to the surprised looks on their faces and held up her hand, as if to say that she was going to explain the situation. "So, eh, I met up with Carlos last night, when you were- well, doing your thing, and he helped me find a good rental place. And that's when he mentioned that he loves sailing as well!" She looked at him with a huge smile on her face and patted him on the back. "So I just had to invite him. I'm sorry, I totally forgot to tell you."

Carlos smiled as he looked between the two other women. "Surprise!" He threw his arms in the air as he presented himself with full confidence.

Annalise chuckled and softly nudged his chest. "Stupid man." She gave him a quick hug. It was actually nice to see him again.

Tegan just smiled at him halfheartedly and used Mila as an excuse not to come any closer.

The man on the boat finished his explanation and helped them to prepare for a smooth sail. It was nothing Naomi or Carlos couldn't have handled, but it was a nice gesture.

Tegan and Annalise were just watching them do all the work as they made themselves comfortable on the small loungeset in the front of the boat, with Mila in between them. The little girl sat on Tegan's lap, but her eyes were on Annalise the whole time.

She hadn't said anything to her yet, but she looked like she wanted to. When Tegan saw her intense gaze at the other woman, she tickled her in her neck and said "You can talk to her, you know. She won't bite."

Annalise raised her eyebrows at that, looking at Mila as if she wasn't so sure about the biting thing. "Well..."

Tegan gave her a push to the shoulder and laughed softly. Mila didn't seem to notice.

"Are you also lesban?" she asked, her brows furrowed as if she was thinking deeply.

Annalise smiled and let out a breath through her nose. "No, not really. I'm- eh..." she couldn't really find the right way to explain bisexuality to a three-year-old, so she just settled on "I'm half-lesbian."

Mila looked very confused and turned to Tegan, expecting an explanation. "Annalise likes boys _and_ girls," Tegan clarified, and Mila looked back at Annalise with wide eyes.

"Wow..." she whispered. "I like boys and girls, too!" She giggled and leaned her head against Tegan's chest, putting her thumb in her mouth while she watched Annalise.

"Do you like auntie Tegan?"

That question made both women a little uncomfortabe and Tegan felt her cheeks heat up.

Annalise bit her lip. "Yes, I do." She avoided Tegan's eyes purposely and smiled at Mila. "I like her a lot."

Tegan visibly swallowed, not expecting her to be so upfront about it. And she also didn't know how to play this off casually in front of Mila, who looked at her with a huge smile on her face and wide, glistening eyes.

"Of course she does," she said as she tapped the little girl's nose. "We're friends!"

Tegan looked at Annalise, who was watching her with a small smile on her face. "We're friends," she confirmed, and Mila seemed satisfied with that answer.

She went on to talk about dolphins and turtles and mermaids, and before they knew it, the boat had left the shore and they were riding the waves.

Naomi and Carlos turned out to be a great team. The both of them knew exactly what to do when the wind would turn or when the water got a little more rough, and they seemed to get on very well.

Annalise liked seeing Carlos so happy - he looked completely at ease with Naomi. He laughed at her jokes and she laughed at his, and Naomi's smile was even brighter around him.

"Look," she pointed them out to Tegan, when she'd finished the song she was singing with Mila. She turned around when Annalise asked for her attention and her eyes widened when she saw her friend.

"Oh, wow," she murmured, before turning back to Annalise. "Did you know..."

Annalise shook her head. "Nu-uh. But... I think I like it. They look good together."

Tegan nodded absendmindedly.

Meanwhile, Mila had climbed off her lap and was now moving her attention to Annalise. She stood in front of her with her hands on her hips and a frown on her forehead, as if she was thinking about something very hard.

Annalise looked at her unimpressed. "Can I help you, miss?"

The little girl tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at that title. Then, she took another step forward and laid her hands on Annalise's cheeks. She inspected it closely before she whispered, "Ursula."

Annalise's face was unchanged, she let Mila squish her cheeks and didn't even flinch when the girl pulled at her ears. She didn't understand why she called her that name, though.

"What?"

"You can be Ursula," Mila explained.

Tegan snorted as she watched the shock on Annalise's face. "Mila!" she told the girl off. "That's not nice."

She didn't seem impressed at all and climbed on Annalise's lap. "I'm Ariel! How are you, Ursula?"

Annalise looked from the girl in her lap to the woman next to her, who was clearly enjoying how this was playing out. When she saw the look on Tegan's face, she decided that it couldn't hurt to have a little fun. Lucky for her, _The Little Mermaid_ was one of the only Disney movies she actually remembered.

"Why hello, Ariel. I'm good, but I really wanna steal your voice," she said in a deep voice, which made the little girl giggle in excitement. When Annalise started to tickle her belly, she burst out in laughter as she tried to wiggle out of her grip.

"Stop!" she squealed loudly, but her laughing didn't sell it very well and Annalise did not stop.

Tegan got a warm feeling in her stomach. Seeing Annalise play with Mila made her head spin. All the tough exterior that she usually put on was completely gone when she was talking to the little girl. Mila's giggling was infectious and she soon joined Annalise in the tickling attack, which only made her laugh more.

She could get used to this.

-

After they'd been on the water for almost two hours, they decided to take a break and throw out the anchor. Carlos and Naomi were both hungry from hanging in the mast for so long, so they had started to devour the sandwiches that Naomi had prepared that morning. Mila was sitting next to her mother, who was feeding her small bites of a fruit salad.

Annalise was trying to get her life vest off, which they didn't really need now that they were laying still, but she found herself tangled in the knots. She tugged at the loose ends, but it just didn't seem to work.

At that moment, she heard a loud splash in the water.

She turned around immediately, images of Mila drowing in the ocean flashing through her head. With the vest still halfway around her middle, she ran over to the side of the boat.

A dark form struck out in the clear blue water. It was still sinking, and Annalise felt a rush of panick go through her body. She ripped at the lifevest with all she had.

Suddenly, she heard splashes again. She teared her eyes from the neon orange object at her middle and was faced by a bright smile.

Tegan cleared her hair out of her face as soon as she rose above the surface. "Hey!" she yelled at the woman on the boat.

Annalise scoffed. All this worry for nothing.

"Jesus, Tegan, I thought you were Mila!"

Tegan laughed, treading water with her feet while making small circles with her hands. She had two pairs of goggles tied around her fingers and swung them through the air. "Sorry to disappoint."

Annalise sighed. She folded her arms and kept looking at the woman in front of her, who was now on her back, showing off some of her very best assets.

"You coming?"

She bit her lip. The thought of swimming in the ocean when they were out this far didn't sound appealing to her for one bit, but this was _Tegan_ inviting her... And it was very hard to say no to that woman. Especially in her current attire.

The knot on her vest finally came loose, and her caftan soon followed. She kicked off her flip flops, took off her sunglasses and then looked at the water beneath her. It looked awfully deep, but when she saw Tegan splashing some water at her teasingly, she decided that she did not want to miss out on this.

Tegan cheered as Annalise finally jumped in the water.

She swam up to Tegan as fast as she could - which was not very fast at all - and tried to stay afloat beside her.

"Hi," she said, trying to hide her laboured breathing.

"Hey," Tegan greeted her with a genuine smile. "The water's nice, right?"

"Yeah," she answered immediately. It was a little too quick to sound genuine and that did not go unnoticed.

Tegan treaded water right beside her to hand over one of the goggles. "Put this on." Annalise frowned and held the goggles in her hand while Tegan put on her own pair. Then, she dove underwater and swam by Annalise, tickling her under her foot for a second. The other woman tried to kick her, but she was back above the surface before she could succeed.

She was met with a splash of water in her face, but that didn't stop her from laughing loudly. Meanwhile, Annalise was moving her arms and legs around in a wild manner to keep herself afloat. She couldn't see the fun in it just yet.

"Don't do that," Annalise warned her. But before she knew it, Tegan had disappeared under the water again. She felt her pinching at her sides and let out a squeal that actually made her thankful that Tegan was under water, so she couldn't hear it at least.

She heard Tegan appear behind her and turned around to face her, which was harder than she thought it would be. Stopping herself from drowning while also having to cope with Tegan's games was kind of a challenge.

Tegan looked at her with a twinkle in her eyes. "What's the matter?" she asked teasingly, her voice low with the hint of a threat in it.

Annalise wished she was able to support herself in the water well enough so she could actually get back at her, but she feared that it would only out her lack of swimming skills even more. Instead, she just scoffed and swam back towards the boat. No way she was going to show Tegan this side of her.

She saw the other woman appear next to her after only a few seconds and cursed softly. "If you do that one more time, I'm getting back on the boat."

Tegan chuckled at her childishness before she grabbed her arm. Annalise stopped swimming. "I just want to show you something, alright?" Tegan's voice sounded genuine now, but she couldn't help rolling her eyes.

Tegan took the goggles from her hand and helped her adjust them to her face. "All you have to do is look down."

Annalise took a few deep breaths. She still felt uncomfortable in the ocean and she knew that wasn't about to be fixed by seeing whatever was going on in the ocean underneath her.

But she didn't want to give into Tegan's teasing, either. God damn her competitive mind. She just didn't know how to back down from a challenge.

She dipped her face under the surface and had to get used to the light under water, but when she did... It was absolutely beautiful.

Underneath her were all sorts of corals, from orange to blue and from tiny ones to gigantic versions. There were different kinds of fish swimming all around them and Annalise was truly in awe.

She had never seen anything like it - not even in a zoo, and the sight was just stunning.

When she looked up to take a breath, Tegan was watching her in anticipation.

"Wow," she breathed, and Tegan smiled wide.

"I told you!" She swam towards her and readjusted her goggles. "Follow me, alright?"

Annalise nodded and tried to keep up with Tegan as she swam in front of her. Meanwhile, she was looking all around her. She grabbed Tegan's leg when she saw a huge turtle at a short distance. The other woman beamed when she saw it and Annalise felt her heart tug at the pure happiness on her face.

They swam all over the the reef and Annalise was actually enjoying herself, even though the swimming was making her muscles sore and

Tegan pinched her shoulder when she saw a jellyfish coming towards them. Annalise watched her dive a little deeper and swim towards the animal so she could see it up close. Tegan had never seen a jellyfish in the wild and she had always been fascinated by them. This one was a light, almost translucent pink; it looked like it wasn't even from this Earth. She was watching the jelly-like part contract and release in awe, while she tried to keep as still as possible. She didn't want to startle the animal.

What Tegan had not expected, however, is for the fish to surprise _her._ In a splitsecond, it changed its direction and moved a few inches towards her. Tegan panicked and kicked her arms so she could move backwards, but her fingers brushed against its tentacles in the process. She could feel a hot tingle immediately, followed by a flash of burning pain.

If Annalise would have been able to read lips from this distance, she would have seen her say "fuck" under water.

She swam back to the surface and growled in pain when she was able to make a sound again. She held her hurt finger in the air and blew on it to reduce the burning feeling she got.

Annalise swam closer as fast as she could, trying to keep her own body under control. "Shit, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Tegan quickly said, but she wasn't doing a very successful job at hiding her pain.

"What were you even trying to do?!" Annalise continued. She took Tegan's hand to inspect her finger a little closer, which proved to be more difficult than she thought in the water. "Idiot," she mumbled, and she dropped her hand back into the water.

"We're going back."

-

Annalise was looking for a first aid kit all over the boat while Naomi inspected Tegan's finger. Tegan herself was getting more and more annoyed by all the fuss they were making over such a small injury.

"Oh come on, it doesn't even hurt that bad," she shut Naomi down when she asked her if she was feeling feverish. "I'll be okay."

She grabbed a towel with her right hand and dried herself a little, until Annalise walked back up to them with a small, orange box in her hands.

"Sit," she commanded, and Tegan didn't dare to argue. She sat down on the lounge chair, both legs on one side, and Annalise sat beside her.

She grabbed a tube of burn ointment and laid Tegan's hand on her lap.

Meanwhile, Mila was walking up to her mother and looked at the two women curiously. "Auntie Tegan is hurt?"

Naomi sat down on the chair next to them and put Mila in her lap.

"Just a little," Tegan said while Annalise was applying the cream to the reddened spots on her finger. "I was stung by a jellyfish."

Mila's eyes widened. "Really?!" She climbed off of Naomi's lap and walked up to Tegan to take a closer look at her finger. "Wow..."

Annalise chuckled at Mila's amazement. At least someone got a little fun out of it. She took the bandage roll out of the box and ruffled through it to find some scissors, but Mila put her hand on hers.

"First, we have to kiss it better." She gave her a stern look and took Tegan's hand from her lap. "Like this!"

The little girl leaned down and pressed a kiss on Tegan's sore finger, beaming up at her when she was done. "Better, right?"

Tegan smiled and nodded to confirm. "Thank you, Mila, that really helps."

Mila turned back at Annalise with a smug look on her face. "See? Now you." She moved Tegan's hand up to the taller woman's face and Annalise looked at it for a second, before taking her hand into her own.

She looked Tegan in the eyes as she placed a soft, lingering kiss on her knuckle.

Tegan felt her skin tingle even more and swallowed thick. She suddenly wished that she'd been stung all over her body.

"Better?" Mila asked her, preventing her thoughts from wandering any further.

She nodded swiftly and cleared her throat. "Yes."

Naomi snorted from the other stretcher. She looked between the two women and rolled her eyes before she stood up and took Mila's hand. "Come on, Mila, let's go check on Carlos."

But before she walked away, she leaned in to whisper something in Tegan's ear, "So I guess it's true. You _are_ a useless lesbian around her."

Tegan gave her an offended look and slapped her on the shoulder. She really hoped the woman next to her hadn't heard her. "Shut up."

It was only after Naomi had walked out of sight that she saw Annalise's smug grin.

"Well, she's not lying."


	15. The Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tegan finds out some things about Annalise's past and Annalise decides to tickle the present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo this one took me a while. It's very e m o t i o n a l!
> 
> I'm still having doubts about it and I don't know if I did them justice, but I think I'm just going to screw it up even more if I keep rewriting it.
> 
> Hope you can enjoy it anyway. At least it's long!
> 
> Please let me know what you think! :)

"So, when did that happen?" Tegan put down their bags next to the couch and looked at her friend, who was standing next to her.

Naomi handed Mila her iPad and patted her head before she walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. "What do you mean?" She asked, feigning innocence.

Tegan followed her into the kitchen and put an empty glass next to hers, so she could fill it up, too. "Carlos! I didn't know you liked him."

Naomi ignored her pointed look and kept focussing on the tap. "I don't _like_ him." She handed her one of the glasses and leaned against the counter.

That was a lie; she did. A lot, actually. It wasn't too long since she and Yuri had seperated, but her feelings for him had ended a long time before that. When she'd met Carlos at the karaokebar, she'd thought he was hot, sure, but she had also expected him to be like all the other Mexican men who'd tried to flirt with her here. But when she'd actually started to talk to him, she turned out to be wrong. They had clicked as soon as the conversation had started, and when he had mentioned sailing, she'd been sold. 

"He's just really nice." A short pause. "And hot." A small smile crep upon her face while her cheeks reddened every so slightly.

Tegan clapped her hands. "Ha! I knew it!" She nudged her friend's shoulder and grinned. She was delighted to see Naomi open herself up to someone else. It was about time that she let herself go somewhat.

"I can watch Mila." She paused when she saw her friend's confused look. "If you wanna go get some, I mean."

Naomi scoffed. "Jesus, Tegan." She laughed softly while her cheeks turned a darker pink. "I don't even know if he likes me like that."

The Latina raised her eyebrows. "Girl, are you blind? He was eating you up. I'm sure he's in his room thinking about you and God knows what more right now."

She wiggled her eyebrows and Naomi pushed her away softly. "Oh, shut up..." She stared into the distance and took a sip of water. She had actually caught his eyes on her a few times that day, but she was definitely not the blind one between the two of them.

"Besides, you're one to talk," she changed the subject, giving Tegan a knowing look. "The way you and Annalise beat around the bush... It's _painful."_

Tegan frowned, a bit taken aback by that comment. Talking about Naomi's love life was a whole lot less scary than talking about hers. "I don't beat around anything. Ipromised myself I'm not gonna fall for her again."

"Oh, come on, Tegan!" Naomi blurted out, throwing her arms up in the air to out her frustration. "You can't promise shit like that. And you and I both know that ship has sailed."

The smaller woman faced the ground. She didn't dare to say anything.

"You really expect me to believe nothing happened at that salsa club? You come back in here all dreamy eyes, telling me how nice it was, how good it felt to dance with her again, saying that she's changed and that you really want to give her a chance, and now you wanna tell me you're just _friends?"_ The blonde flicked her hair over one shoulder and took another sip of water. "Bitch, please," she said in a low voice.

Tegan sighed. Naomi had always known when she was bullshitting her, and was never afraid to call her out on it. But this was on a whole other level. How come this woman knew things about her that she, herself hadn't even figured out yet?

"We _are_ just friends, though. Nothing happened at the salsa club," she denied the accusations, even though she knew it was pointless.

"Oh, but you wanted it to." Naomi put down her glass and looked her friend in the eye. "It's fine if you lie to me - really, I don't care, but please stop lying to yourself." She laid her hand on her shoulder and squeezed it softly.

Tegan bit her lip. She felt like Naomi was seeing right through her.

"You know..." The blonde paused for a second, not knowing if she should actually tell her this, but she soon shook off the hesitation and straightened her back. "I haven't seen you this happy in years. You just... I don't know - you _light up_ when she's around. It's like you come alive."

Naomi looked at her friend carefully and saw her lip starting to tremble. It was painful to see her like this, so vulnerable, but at least she was finally showing some emotion.

It was like she had torn Tegan open, displaying every single doubt she had about this situation and it made her _feel,_ finally _._ Because yes, she did feel more alive now than she had for a year, and yes, she did find it hard to think about anything but kissing Annalise when she was around her, but that didn't mean that she was ready to face her feelings. There was still this underlaying thought of unresolved issues between them that they needed to adress, aside from whatever feelings they had for each other, and the weight of it all was starting to get to her.

She could feel the tears burning in her eyes and gladly let herself be pulled into a hug. Naomi squeezed her tightly and she hid her face in her neck, trying to stay quiet as the tears started rolling.

"Oh, Tee..." Naomi placed a kiss in her hair and rubbed her back, while Tegan leaned into the embrace and closed her eyes. "You're just so stupid sometimes."

Tegan let out a wet laugh and sniffled against her friend's chest. "Out of character, huh?"

Naomi chuckled as she wiped a few hairs out of the shorter woman's face.

At that moment, Tegan's phone buzzed.

Naomi reached over her shoulder to look at the screen. She let go of the smaller woman immediately when she saw the text. She didn't hand Tegan the phone, and she was eying her suspiciously. "What does it say?"

The blonde smiled mischeviously as she finally showed her the screen. "I just got you an ice cream date."

And Tegan wanted to be mad at her for it, but she really wasn't.

-

Two hours later, Tegan was walking up to the small ice cream stand in front of the hotel.

Annalise waved when she saw her coming towards her and Tegan wiggled her fingers back at her. "Hi," she smiled.

"Hi."

It was awkard for a moment, neither woman knew how to greet the other properly, but they settled on a quick hug.

Annalise smiled hesitantly, before gesturing towards the ice cream stand. "Shall we?"

Miguel watched Annalise with a grin when he saw her coming. "Good evening, miss! Cookies and chocolate again?" He winked at her and smiled wide. He seemed genuinely enthusiastic, which made Tegan look between the two of them in amusement. Annalise, on the other hand, looked a little less happy with his greeting.

"Hi, Miguel," she tried to brush it off while she looked at the different flavours. As if she hadn't ordered the exact same thing every day she'd been here.

"You pick first," she told the shorter woman, and Tegan loved that she was clearly exaggerating her indecisiveness to hide her frequent visits to Miguel.

"Alright, I'll have one scoop of vanilla and one mango, please."

Miguel went to work right away and put her cup on the counter. He looked at Annalise expectantly, and the taller woman was still frowning as she looked over the flavours in the display.

She sighed and tilted her head, finally putting an end to her act. "Alright, you know what I want anyway."

The boy grinned as he scooped up her usual and placed it next to Tegan's. "It's on the house," he winked at them once more. "Enjoy, ladies!"

They walked towards the beach in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company.

Naomi's words were still drifting through Tegan's head. Maybe she was right. She _did_ feel a lot of things when she was with Annalise. Most of them were good, like how she could make her laugh by not even doing anything special, or how her whole body felt warm when she watched Annalise play with Mila, or the way her skin felt like it was burning when she would only lay a hand on her - but some of them were a little less comfortable. They still needed to talk about a lot of things. Tegan needed to forgive her first, and she was not ready to do that just yet.

"I didn't peg you for a vanilla girl," Annalise broke the silence. She looked at Tegan from the corner of her eyes with just a hint of a smirk tugging at her mouth.

Tegan's eyes twinkled as she looked back at her. "Only with ice cream." She took another bite and pulled the small spoon from her lips ridiculously slow. Annalise's eyes were locked on her mouth. She hated the way she was literal putty in this woman's hands if she played her cards right. And Tegan _always_ played her cards right.

"How's your finger?" She quickly changed the subject. She held out her hand and Tegan laid hers in it, so Annalise could see her finger up close.

The Latina shrugged. "It's fine. It's not burning as bad anymore."

Annalise inspected her finger carefully. It was still swollen, but the red had turned into pink. She smiled, softly brushing along the other side of her finger. "I guess our treatment worked, huh?"

-

After they'd finished their ice creams, they made their way back towards the hotel. They had just stepped into the elevator when Tegan's phone buzzed in her purse.

She saw Naomi's name on the screen and smiled when she saw her message.

"Carlos is with Naomi," she wiggled her eyebrows at Annalise, who gave her a knowing look at that.

"They're not wasting any time."

Tegan grinned as she told Naomi to have fun in her reply. "Yeah, they're really going for it."

She felt a pang of jealousy. If only she could say the same thing about herself.

Annalise was quiet for a second, biting her lip as she thought of the correct way to ask what she was about to suggest. "Well... Do you want to come over to my room? I mean - it might be nice if they get some alone time."

It might be nice if _they_ got some alone time.

The Latina looked up at her, considering her options for a short moment before she nodded. "Sure."

-

Tegan had taken a seat on the balcony in the meanwhile, enjoying the few of the nightsky. She was shaken from her thoughts by Annalise's hand, holding up a glass of grapefruit juice in front of her face. She smiled as she took it from her. Annalise hated grapefruit juice, but it had always been Tegan's favorite. And it hadn't been provided in the minibar, so... she couldn't shake the thought that she might have bought it just for her.

Annalise sat down on the other chair and sipped on her own drink - a simple ice tea, as she looked at the moon. It was high in the sky and almost full, and Annalise could see all the palmtrees along the beach in its light. They could hear the music from the boulevard playing softly, with the sounds of crashing waves on the background.

Meanwhile, Tegan grabbed her purse and started ruffling through it, clearly looking for something.

Annalise eyed her curiously. "Lost something?"

"No, I just..." Tegan sighed, and then she pulled out a small object. "There it is! I brought us a little something."

The taller woman looked at the object in her hand. It was probably one of the last things she'd ever expected Tegan to hold in front of her.

Right there, in the palm of her hand, was a delicately pre-rolled joint.

Annalise raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

The shorter woman rolled it around between her fingers. "Only if you want to, of course. I mean, I don't know your standing on the green gold, so I understand if..."

"No, don't worry," Annalise interrupted her. She picked the blunt from her fingers and took it out of the small tube it was in. "It's been a long time since I've smoked one of these."

Tegan grinned, took a lighter from her purse and handed it to Annalise. "Well, go ahead."

The older woman aligned the blunt with her mouth, lit it up at the tip and took the first hit. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as she felt the smoke enter her lungs, before carefully blowing it out. "Ah..." she breathed as she lit it once more so the residue could burn off. "That's nice.

She handed it over to Tegan, who gladly followed her example. They passed the joint between the two of them and after only a few hits, both women could feel their bodies getting heavier. They sank into the chairs and looked at the stars as they took turns with the joint.

-

When they were almost through the whole thing, Tegan put it out against the ashtray. It was hitting her quite hard, and judging by Annalise's glazy eyes and half-open mouth, she was just as high as Tegan. Besides that, it was starting to cool down now, so they decided to move their business towards the couch, dropping down on it besides each other.

They put their drinks on the side table and Annalise focused very hard on her phone to put on some slow South-American music. She leaned back against the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

"I haven't done this since I was... twenty-two, I think."

She turned towards Tegan, who had her eyes half closed while the corners of her mouth tugged up slightly. "Really? Twenty-two-year-old-Annalise was a stoner?"

Annalise laughed at that thought. "No," she giggled - she _actually_ giggled. "Twenty-two year old Annalise was just a little bored, I guess. Vodka was always my one true love."

They were both quiet after that moment. It wasn't as heavy as it probably would have been if they'd been sober, but it still felt like something shifted in the air.

Tegan moved her arm to lay on the back of the couch, just above Annalise's shoulders, so her hand could rest behind Annalise's head.

"Tell me about her," she said softly. Her fingers stroked through Annalise's hair, while the older woman was leaning into her a little to give her better access.

"She wasn't very interesting," Annalise shrugged. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Tegan's fingers on her scalp. "Aside from the gay thing, of course."

"Oh, that was then?"

Annalise nodded. She laid her head on Tegan's shoulder and pulled her legs up on the couch so she could lean on her fully. "Yup."

Tegan didn't know if she was allowed to ask further, but she was _so_ curious. There were a few beats of silence before she finally dared to ask her next question.

"How long did it last?"

She could hear Annalise humming; could even _feel_ it vibrate against her neck. "A while," she sighed. "Almost three years." Her voice was low, barely a whisper, like she was ashamed of what she was saying.

"Hmm." Tegan bit her lip. Her finger brushed against Annalise's ear and she could feel her shiver against her.

"Why did it end?" The question was out before she knew it. It hung in the air for a moment, Annalise didn't flinch or make a sound, until she lifted her head from Tegan's shoulder.

The thought that she'd fucked things up flashed through Tegan's mind. She wasn't thinking clearly, obviously, but that didn't mean she could just start prying into Annalise's past.

But her mind eased when Annalise turned to lay on her back and let her head fall into Tegan's lap, looking up at her with her eyes half-open. Tegan ran the back of her fingers over the side of Annalie's neck, from her collarbone up to her earlobe.

She closed her eyes when she felt Tegan's hand on her cheek and took a deep breath. "I ran from her," she finally said. It sounded like a revelation. "She loved me and I loved her - _so_ much, but I was scared to be gay, and... I ran."

Tegan swallowed. She didn't know what to say to that, or if she should say anything at all. She stayed quiet, but her head was already filling up with more questions. There was so much more that she wanted to know and this was probably not the right time to talk about any of it - especially with the state they were in - but they had also never been this open with each other, so maybe this was exactly what they needed.

"Did I scare you, too?"

Annalise took a sharp breath. She hadn't expected that question.

Her eyes opened slowly and locked with Tegan's right away. She looked... hurt. Afraid, almost. As if Annalise was about to pull her heart out and stomp on it.

"No," she said, and her voice sounded more certain than it had all night. "You never scared me." She reached for Tegan's hand and squeezed it, trying to do everything she could to stop her from thinking that she had been the one that pushed her away.

Tegan swallowed thick. She felt Annalise's lips on her hand and she closed her eyes when the tears started to burn in her eyes. The woman on her lap was peppering her hand with kisses, before suddenly halting her actions and placing her cheek against the inside of her wrist, hugging it tightly to her face.

The younger woman looked at her through her lashes and saw that she wasn't the only one who was getting emotional.

"I'm so sorry, Tegan," she breathed. It was shaky and it was soft; so soft that it could have been mistaken for silence by anyone who wasn't Tegan.

But to her, it sounded like the loudest, heaviest words anyone had ever told her. There were tears rolling down her cheeks now, and she didn't care anymore. She just let it all out, trembling fully when Annalise softly kissed the sore spot on her finger again.

Neither of them said anything. They were crying almost without a sound, each woman feeling whatever they needed to feel. It felt like the wall between them had finally come down and it just needed to happen. They needed to feel this way if they wanted to spend more time together. It was about time they pushed through.

Annalise lifted her head off of Tegan's lap and sat back down next to her, one leg tugged underneath the other. She grabbed Tegan's hands again as a way to stabilize herself and tried to even out her breathing, so Tegan could actually understand what she was going to say next.

"I never wanted to hurt you," Annalise finally managed to get out. She wiped her eyes and squeezed Tegan's hand a little. "I thought it was the best thing to do, honestly. I was this... whirlwind; a tornado, I was ruining everything and everyone that stood close to me and I didn't want that to happen to you." She couldn't look away, her eyes were glued to Tegan's and the only thing she could hope for was that she _understood._ "After the funerals, I'd started drinking again and I ended up in the hospital. I almost drank myself to death." She swallowed. She didn't want to paint herself to be the victim of this situation, she knew damn well that this wasn't about her problems, but she couldn't not mention it, either.

She moved her hand, as if she waved her last statement away and continued, a little louder now. "When I got out of rehab, I was a wreck. You were calling me every day and I knew it wasn't right to ignore you, I knew that I should just call you back - tell you I was fine, or... alive, but I- I couldn't. First, I didn't have my phone at rehab, and then Eve picked me up from the centre and flew me out to San Francisco. I saw that you were hired at Darris and Rickson and I figured that you were probably better off without me."

She looked down while another tear ran down her cheek. "I'm so sorry. I hurt you so bad and I'd honestly give both my arms to turn back time."

Tegan didn't feel like she possessed the ability to speak. Her face was wet with tears, her eyes reddened and her nose was running, but she didn't give a shit about the way she looked. Annalise's words hurt more than she'd thought they would, but she knew that she needed to hear it. It was hard to be angry with her when she was finally being honest, but she couldn't ignore the knot in her stomach that was still there.

"Why did you keep my number?"

Annalise bit her lip. She didn't regret keeping it, but looking back now, it was quite strange.

Her voice was hoarse when she spoke up again. "Because..."

The words stuck in her throat. She tried to swallow, but her mouth suddenly felt drier than the desert.

"BecauseI thought about calling you every single day. I can't tell you how many times I tried, but I always backed out before actually calling you. I deleted it a couple of times, but I knew it by heart after looking at it so often and then I'd just re-enter it." She looked down at Tegan's chin and saw the tears rolling down from it.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry, Tegan." When she looked her in the eyes again, she felt her heart ache. Tegan's face displayed so many emotions at once that it became hard to read. Every doubt, every fear and every single ounce of pain inside her was on full display.

Annalise hated herself for making her feel this way. Her head was spinning and her nerves were about to go into overdrive.

But then, Tegan shook her head. She didn't even look up before she pulled her in for a hug, wrapping her arms around Annalise's frame so tight that it was almost hard to breathe.

Annalise laid her hands on Tegan's back and hid her face in her hair, trying to stop herself from full on collapsing in her arms.

Tegan needed this. She needed to be as close as possible to her right now. She _needed_ to feel like they were going to be okay. Maybe they should have waited to have this conversation, but she was so glad that it was over. At least she knew what happend now, and she could finally start to heal.

Annalise buried her nose into her hair. The smell of her shampoo was weirdly calming. It smelled like her; like autumn and oranges and the ocean and _home._

Her breathing evened out after a while, her heartbeat turned back to normal and she felt her muscles relax. The woman in her arms had also stopped trembling. She leaned backwards so she could at her again, and wiped the tears from her face.

Tegan looked down while she let Annalise touch her cheeks. "Thank you for telling me," she said, a small tremble still left in her voice.

Annalise just smiled. She stroked Tegan's curls out of her face and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Don't thank me for that. I should have told you a long time ago." She brushed her thumb along her jaw before she let her hand drop to her lap.

They both felt the moment disappear. The song that was playing ended and the silence that followed swallowed all the tension that was still in the air. Both women were glad about it.

Tegan squinted her eyes, leaning in just a little closer to Annalise before she stood up from the couch. "Your eyes are so red," she chuckled, and Annalise kicked at her legs when she walked by.

"Shut up." 

The smaller woman laughed as she walked over to the bathroom.

She laid back down on the couch and closed her eyes again. Her head was still spinning a little and she didn't know if it was from the weed or their conversation or just from hugging Tegan.

When Tegan got back from the toilet, Annalise was still laying down on the couch. Her eyes were only half-open and her head was propped up against the armrest. She smiled at Tegan when she walked back and pulled her legs in, so she could sit down next to her.

But before she could take a seat, her phone buzzed on the side table. She picked it up and read the texts as she sat down on the armrest of the couch.

Naomi: _Hey, where u at?_

_How was the ice cream?_

_Carlos just left_

_I have so much to tell you!!!_

Annalise watched her expression change. "What's up?"

"Eh... It's Naomi." She bit her lip and read the text once more. "Carlos went to his room, so I can go back there."

Something inside her shifted. She'd expected to be relieved, maybe even excited to head back to Naomi, but now that the moment was here, she didn't feel for it at all. However, Naomi was probably waiting for her and she didn't want to let her friend down, either.

The woman on the couch was quiet for a second. "Oh." It sounded more disappointed than she'd wanted it to. "Yeah, sure."

She sat up straight and looked at the shorter woman. "Did it go well? With Carlos?''

Tegan shrugged. "She'll probably tell me all about it in a minute." She smiled weakly as she hung her purse around her shoulder.

Annalise stood up from the couch as she watched Tegan pick up her bag. There was a weird feeling in her stomach; the air had shifted and it suddenly felt awkward. It felt strange to end the night like this. It felt strange to end the night _at all,_ if she was honest.

But Tegan was already walking towards the door, so she had no choice but to follow.

She took a deep breath when Tegan turned around. She gave her a halfhearted smile and folded her hands behind her back.

"Thanks for the ice cream," Tegan smiled as she balanced herself on her heels. As if that was the most eventful thing of the evening.

Annalise grinned. "Of course, miss vanilla "

She watched Tegan grin before she spun on her heels and laid her hand on the doorknob.

Annalise knew that this was her last chance to change Tegan's mind. If she wanted to try anything, she had to do it now. Almost without thinking, she grabbed Tegan's hand. It felt more like a spasm than a conscious move - it just _had_ to happen.

"You know..." she started hesitantly, trying to hide from Tegan's questioning glare. "You don't _have_ to go."

Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard that she feared it was visible. She could see Tegan swallow when she took one step closer.

"I mean, I get it if you want to go gossip with Naomi," she held her hands up to stress her point. "I fully support that, but- Well, I wouldn't mind..."

Tegan raised one eyebrow playfully. She wanted to let the other woman finish, but nothing came out of her mouth. She looked completely lost in her words.

"What are you saying?"

Annalise sighed. Here she went. It was all or nothing now.

She took both of Tegan's hands in hers and squeezed them to get herself some courage. She closed her eyes and took one last deep breath.

"Stay," she blurted out quietly as her eyes opened slowly. She laid a shaky hand on her cheek and brushed her thumb over her jawline. "Please stay," she repeated, even softer than the first time.

Something came over her; it pulled her towards the smaller woman stronger than it ever had, and she couldn't resist any longer. She couldn't keep pushing her feelings away forever.

Tegan closed her eyes when she saw Annalise lean in. Her lips parted, her breathing sped up and then, Annalise's lips were on hers.

It was gentle, careful, a little hesitant, like she wanted to give Tegan the option to back out. But Tegan felt like she was on cloud nine and stopping it was the last thing she wanted to do.

Instead, she kissed her back softly, leaving no questions about her intentions. She stepped even closer and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's neck. Annalise smiled against her lips. She moved her hand to the back of Tegan's head and deepened the kiss, licking into Tegan's mouth teasingly.

The Latina gladly gave her access and let herself be guided backwards. When her back hit the door, their lips parted while their foreheads stayed pressed against each other. Tegan's eyes were still closed. She could feel Annalise's laboured breath on her chin and wanted this moment to last forever.

Annalise pressed another quick, short kiss to her lips. "So," she panted as she tied a strand of Tegan's hair around her fingers, her forehead still touching hers. "Will you?" 

The answer became clear when Tegan grabbed her face and kissed her again, pouring every single ounce of _yes_ in her body into it.

And in that moment, Annalise knew that this was it.

She was _home._


	16. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have their first official date and they talk shop for a bit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back back back back back again!!!
> 
> Sorry it took me so long, for some reason I couldn't get myself into writing this chapter and I didn't have a lot of time either. The chapter still feels a bit rough but I think it is because I didn't make a writing plan and now all the stuff I want to get into the story is kind of piling up in the last chapters lol. 
> 
> Huge thank you to everyone who commented and especially @AKTP for lighting the fire under my ass to keep writing. Thanks for the support, it means so much <3
> 
> Also guess who came by my house this christmas! Santa decided to give me corona. It wasn't even on my list, so thanks for such a unique present :))) That also means I'll have more time to write though so it's not that bad.
> 
> Last but not least: I wrote a christmas fic! Go check it out for some holiday feels
> 
> And noooow on to the chapter. Hope you like it! :D

When Tegan woke up, there was a heavy weight on her chest and a leg wrapped around hers. She smiled when she saw that Annalise was still asleep, her head resting just below her chin. Her hand had slipped underneath Tegan's borrowed t-shirt sometime during the night and was now laying on her stomach. She looked completely at peace, for once. Tegan loved the fact that a woman with an exterior as tough as Annalise Harkness' was a _cuddler_ and she was more than happy to be on the receiving end of it.

She softly stroked the back of her fingers over Annalise's cheek, while her mind drifted off to last night's events.

The kiss by the door had left them both breathless. It had felt like a new beginning, like a promise of something that both women had been longing for for a long time. It was exhilarating as much as it felt safe and even after years of not speaking to each other, it felt like this kiss had been long overdue. The weight of their past still hung heavy between them and there was clearly a lot left to work out, but they could both feel that this was bound to happen one way or the other. 

They had shared several kisses after that first one and eventually ended up in each other's arms on the couch, but neither women intended to take it any further. They silently agreed that their much-needed talk and the wordless declaration of something other than friendship was all they could handle tonight. They were exhausted, emotionally. Being close to each other was enough for now. Tegan texted Naomi that she would be staying at Annalise's for the night (to which her reply had existed of a lot of emoji's and exclamation marks) just before they had both fallen asleep on the sofa.

Annalise had woken up a mere half hour later with a burning ache in her neck. Her head had been propped up on the armrest and she already felt sore from the position. Tegan had still been fast asleep, her head resting on her shoulder, and Annalise had woken her up by softly stroking through her hair. She'd opened her eyes with a smile on her face that the woman beside her had pressed her lips to immediately. Annalise had gotten off the couch and she'd fixed Tegan a t-shirt to sleep in.

The older woman had gone into the bathroom to get ready for bed, giving Tegan some privacy, but Tegan didn't get up from the couch for a while. The t-shirt smelled like Annalise. It was a light purple, and it was very unlike the clothes she normally wore. Tegan loved it, though. She had buried her nose in it and sat still for a full minute, giving herself a moment to breathe after the events of the night. She had felt happy more than anything, relieved that they had finally talked and even more pleased with the kiss and holding this t-shirt in her hands somehow felt like they had broken through some kind of invisible barrier. Annalise was letting her in.

She had only gotten up from the couch once she'd heard the water in the bathroom stop running and changed into the t-shirt right away. It was half-way over her head when she heard the bathroom door open.

Annalise had walked out in her silk pyjamas and she had tried her best not to look, but she was met with Tegan's backside and she'd just taken off her shorts and her ass had looked _so good_ in those aubergine lace panties that it felt like absolute torture to tear her eyes away from her. Tegan had immediately noticed that she was watching her, of course. She'd turned around with a smug look on her face, which Annalise had tried to avoid at all costs. She'd played it off as casual and smiled softly at her before she made her way over to the bed.

Tegan had asked her which side she preferred and she had suddenly been very aware that they were really going to share a bed.

Annalise had told her that she didn't care and they'd gotten into bed quietly, lying next to each other in silence at first. Neither of them had expected it to be awkward, but there they were, facing the ceiling while their hearts were pounding in their throats.

It was Tegan who had whispered, "You comin' over here or what?" and Annalise had gladly complied. She'd rolled over to her side and kissed Tegan's shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am," she'd whispered, before wrapping her arm around the shorter woman's stomach.

Tegan had rolled over in her arms, so her backside was against Annalise's front. Both women had been very aware of Annalise's fingertips brushing over the top of Tegan's panties, but they both ignored the shiver that had gone down Tegan's spine.

Annalise had just kissed her shoulder once more and then placed her hand safely on the mattress.

"Good night, Tegan."

There'd been a short silence before Tegan had turned her head around to press a short, soft kiss to Annalise's cheek.

"Good night," she'd whispered.

And it had taken her less than five minutes to fall asleep in Annalise's arms.

Tegan contemplated her options. Annalise was snoring softly, her curls were tickling Tegan's chin with every breath she took and her hand felt warm on her belly. She had agreed to meet Mila and Naomi for breakfast soon, but there was no way she could get up without waking the woman on top of her in the process.

She moved her hand to the sleeping woman's neck and walked her fingertips along her spine, slipping under the silk pyjama top she was wearing to feel the smooth skin on her back. Her fingers made their way to her waist and then back up again, softly brushing from just below her ear to her shoulder.

Annalise groaned softly, shifting ever so slightly in her arms. She hid her face in Tegan's neck and the shorter woman smiled when she felt her sigh against her skin.

Her eyes were still closed, but the small smile that danced around her lips was proof that she was no longer fully asleep. She didn't make any attempts to stop Tegan's hand from wandering, though. Instead, she moved her leg from between the other woman's to the other side of her hip, so it was fully draped over her and she was even closer to Tegan.

Tegan was still softly caressing her skin, over and under her top. Her fingertips had moved all the way down to her lower back, where she was tracing lines that sent a shiver down Annalise's spine.

She felt the other woman smile in her neck, followed by her lips pressed against her skin. Annalise placed soft, lazy kisses along her collarbone, all the way up to her jaw and chin, and then she finally propped herself up on her elbow to look her human pillow in the eyes.

She was met with a huge grin. "Morning," Tegan brushed her cheek with her thumb as she ran her eyes over her face, trying to take in the way she looked right now - so blissful and at peace that it almost felt like it wasn't real.

Annalise leaned down to press a short kiss to her lips. "Morning." Her voice was low and husky and it made Tegan's heart swell.

Annalise looked at the hand underneath the other woman's t-shirt as she laid her head back down on her chest. She slowly turned it over and ran her knuckles over the smooth skin of her belly.

The touch made Tegan's skin tingle. It sent goosebumps over her body and Annalise bit her lip when she felt them appear. She moved her mouth to Tegan's skin to press soft kisses to her collarbone, while she kept looking at her hand.

Her fingertips brushed over her belly button and then trailed upwards, tracing her ribs ever so slowly. She walked them up and down her ribcage, until she finally reached the underside of Tegan's left breast and let the back of her fingers brush against it just barely, watching her face carefully to see her response.

Tegan had closed her eyes, her lips had formed into a small smile as she took a deep breath through her nose. Annalise kissed her just below her ear as she let her hand wander a bit further now, her fingertips trailing along the sides of her breasts. She could feel Tegan's breath hitch as she placed her knees on both sides of her hips, while her lips were still exploring her neck.

"This okay?" she asked softly. The shorter woman's heart swelled at the question. She had not forgotten about her caution last night and her own silent decision that she'd wanted to take things slow, but Annalise's touch felt _so_ good and it felt like absolute nonsense to deny it. She nodded her head as she placed her hand on the back of Annalise's head, stroking through her hair in encouragement.

"Yes," she breathed. She licked her lips and laid her other arm down on the bed, giving Annalise full access.

The woman on top gladly made use of it. She trailed a finger around her left nipple before running her thumb over it softly. It hardened right away and Annalise smiled against Tegan's skin. Her mouth moved down towards her chest along the neckline of the t-shirt and then she dipped her tongue underneath it at the lowest point, while she was rolling her nipple between her finger and thumb.

Tegan pulled at Annalise's hair slightly. She was biting her lip to stop herself from making sounds, but it was getting harder and she wondered why she even bothered trying to be quiet. When Annalise wrapped her mouth around her other nipple over the t-shirt and sucked, she let herself go and let out a moan.

It sounded angelic to Annalise's ears and she did it again, a little harder this time. Tegan pulled at her hair as she arched her back. Annalise cupped her left breast under the fabric while she moved her mouth back to Tegan's, who kissed her back right away.

She moved her hand from underneath her shirt to place it at Tegan's hip and felt her wrap her leg around hers. In a split second, Tegan flipped her onto her back and grinned wide before she kissed her again, stroking the back of her head while she ran her tongue over her bottom lip.

Annalise grabbed Tegan's ass as soon as she had the chance. The Latina gasped into her mouth when she felt her grip, and the older woman bit at her lip softly when she opened her mouth. She felt the moan that it enticed all the way down to her core.

That was when Tegan pulled away from the kiss as she leaned back a little, panting slightly before she let out a sigh. "We should stop," she breathed as she leaned back.

That got Annalise's attention immediately. She furrowed her brows in concern and propped herself up on her elbows when Tegan sat up straight, sitting back on her thighs. "I-I'm sorry," she sputtered, but Tegan was quick to kiss her worries away.

"Don't be." She stroked along her jawline and looked at her warmly. "I just have to leave soon." She kissed her once more before she swung her leg over the other woman's body to roll over to the side of the bed.

Annalise watched her stand up. Her eyes followed her carefully as she walked around the room. "Where are you going?" It came out more prying than she had meant for it to sound, but she couldn't deny that she felt a little disappointed that they couldn't spend more time together.

"I'm having breakfast with Mila and Naomi," Tegan explained as she pulled her shorts over her t-shirt. "And I'm stealing your shirt."

The older woman smiled warmly. She still felt a little weird about their little make-out session ending so quickly, but at least that meant this meant she hadn't ruined it. "Go ahead. It looks way better on you," she agreed as she got from underneath the covers. She made her way over to the kitchen and poured them both a glass of water.

"When will I see you again?" She asked as she handed Tegan a glass before she sat down sideways on a chair at the kitchen table.

Tegan's heart tugged at the question. "Are you saying you're gonna miss me?" She leaned against the table in front of Annalise and looked at her over the top of her glass with a twinkle in her eyes.

The older woman rolled her eyes. She slapped Tegan's thigh softly as she leaned her elbow on the back of another chair, propping her head up on her hand. "Don't flatter yourself, I'll be fine."

Tegan laughed softly. She set her glass down on the table and looked at the woman in front of her. The situation was still a little unusual to her, with Annalise still wearing her pyjamas and her hair being a little messy because of Tegan's hands roaming through it and her own heart still beating a little harder than usual because of where Annalise's hands had been just minutes ago, but with the way that the woman was looking at her right then - her eyes all warm and soft and filled with something that Tegan couldn't quite place - she only felt excited about what was more to come.

"I'll text you," she reassured her.

And Tegan did. In fact, she'd sent Annalise a text right when she got back to her room just to tell her that Mila loved the shirt. They'd texted back and forth throughout the day. Tegan had sent Annalise pictures of everything around her - her breakfast, the view from her stretcher, the healing blister on her finger, Mila's drawing of Ursula and Ariel, and even a selfie with the three of them. Or, well, the four of them, because for some reason, Carlos was there too.

If Tegan hadn't asked Annalise to join them about twenty times that day, she might've felt left out. However, she was flying back to San Francisco in only two days and even though she trusted her employees, she still wanted to be on top of her business as soon as she returned. It would just make it way easier to get back to work when she already knew what was going on, and so she'd spent most of her day catching up with her colleagues and even some of the clients. At the end of the afternoon, she'd also called Eve. She'd told her all about what had happened with Tegan and the other woman had sounded incredibly happy for her friend. After hanging up, she'd closed the laptop on her lap and decided to make one more call.

Tegan picked up before the second ring. "Hey!"

Annalise's face lit up when she heard how happy she sounded. "Hey." She sat back, laid her laptop down beside her and pulled her legs up on the couch. "You busy?"

She could hear some shuffling on the background, and then a click of what sounded like a closing door. "No, I just destroyed Naomi and Mila at Scrabble so I'm enjoying my high."

Only Tegan would take pride in winning from a three-year-old.

Annalise chuckled at that thought. "Why, congratulations. Just wait until you're up against me, though. I'll beat your ass," she teased, making Tegan laugh softly.

She clicked her tongue in response. "We'll see about that."

Annalise drew figures on her legging-clad knees. "So you're free now?"

The other side of the line went silent for a second. "Yes." Tegan was clearly smiling through that word.

"Good. I'd like to take you somewhere."

Another short pause. "You wanna go on a date?"

Annalise swallowed, picking at her legging. "Well... Yes."

She heard Tegan take a deep breath and felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She suddenly felt nervous. It had been a long time since she'd asked anyone out - usually, she wasn't the one who did the asking - and she'd kind of forgotten how nerve wracking it could be.

But then she heard Tegan let out a breathy laugh and a soft "okay."

Annalise rolled out the large blanket she'd brought with her on the sand and gestured at Tegan to sit down on it.

The shorter woman did so ever so elegantly, looking at Annalise with a wide smile on her face.

She had taken her to the small beach that she'd discovered a few days ago. There was no one else there, so they had it all to themselves. They had stopped by a small restaurant along the way to pick up some freshly cooked seafood, which Annalise knew Tegan loved, all while they wouldn't let go of each other's hands. They'd talked about their days and Annalise had told the younger woman about a very complicated case that she was working on. She hadn't gone into too much detail, of course, but it turned out that Tegan had worked on a very similar case a while ago and she'd offered to help her with it if she needed it.

Annalise sat down facing Tegan as she opened a bottle of melon juice. It was a local specialty and the owner had recommended it to her, so she's just gone for it. She wouldn't, normally, but since this day wasn't normal anyway, she felt like it would be suitable.

She poured it into the plastic cups she'd brought with her and handed Tegan one of them. "Cheers," she smiled as she brought her cup to Tegan's.

"Cheers," the Latina replied.

They sat opposite each other, their legs crossed in between them with feet almost touching.

Annalise was picking at the small flower on Tegan's sandals absentmindedly as she stared at the waves crashing onto the beach.

Tegan watched the woman in front of her. Her fingers softly brushed against the upper part of her foot and it made her skin tingle, but her mind was somewhere else entirely.

"Annalise?"

The older woman looked at her as she folded her hands in her lap. "Yes?"

"I might need your help with something as well."

Annalise raised her eyebrows for a second, but it quickly turned into a reassuring smile as she nodded. "Okay. What can I do?"

Tegan bit her lip. She hadn't been planning on asking her this, but with the talk that they'd just had and the way that Annalise was looking at her right now, it just felt like it was flowing out.

She told her about Naomi's case - about Yuri and Mila and her lack of ideas and the court hearing only a few weeks from then, and Annalise listened to every single word, only asking questions if she wanted Tegan to elaborate on something.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?! We could have started already!"

Tegan sent her a meaningful look. They both knew why she hadn't done that.

"Of course I'll help," Annalise quickly regained herself. She took Tegan's hand in hers and squeezed softly. "Just send me the files as soon as we get back, okay? It'll be tight but I'll try my best to find some time to fly to Philly. I'll be there in court. And tell Naomi I'll do it pro bono. This can't happen." She grabbed her phone from her pocket, biting her lip as she scrolled through her schedule.

Tegan watched her ramble on in awe. She didn't know what she'd expected, but this was definitely not it. Having Annalise join her on this case would make Naomi's chances increase immensely, and for some reason it made her feel safer. She placed her hand on Annalise's and pressed her phone down as she looked her in the eyes.

Annalise was about to say something else when Tegan pressed her lips to hers. She kissed her softly, but full of purpose and it didn't take Annalise long to kiss her back. She placed her hand in Tegan's neck and leaned in to her.

"Thank you," Tegan whispered, just after breaking away from the kiss. She leaned back as she took Annalise's phone from her hands.

"Now let's get back to this tomorrow. I believe we had other plans." She flashed Annalise a wide smile as she zipped open the bag with the food in it.

Annalise wasn't as big a fan of seafood as Tegan was, but she actually liked almost everything that was on the surprise menu. Tegan made her try several things that she would never have picked out herself, and it turned out better than she'd expected. The only thing she refused to eat, though, was staring up at her right now.

"Oysters!" Tegan exclaimed. She took one of the shellfish out of the small container and put the shell to her mouth. She swallowed it's contents in one go and grinned wide when she saw Annalise look at her in disgust.

"What's the matter, miss Harkness?" She took another one and moved the shells up and down to pretend it was speaking, while she sing-songed "you don't wanna eat me?"

Annalise rolled her eyes. She leaned back on her hands as she stretched her legs in front of her. "You're such a child."

Tegan chuckled as she moved to sit on her knees, shuffling a little closer to Annalise. "Just try it," she encouraged her as she held the shell up to her mouth.

"Open," she cooed, but Annalise pursed her lips as she squinted her eyes. She tried to push her arm away, but Tegan was persistent.

"Now who's the child?" She raised her eyebrows in an amused look. Annalise scoffed.

Tegan shook her head at the woman's behaviour, but then she remembered a little something about the shellfish in her hand. Something that would definitely change her mind. Her eyes turned dark as she moved even closer, putting her face only a few inches from Annalise's.

"Did you know that oysters boost your libido?" She trailed her finger up Annalise's arm as she lifted the shells back to her mouth. She swung her leg over Annalise's so that she was straddling her thighs while she softly brushed a finger along her jawline. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip as she batted her eyes at the older woman, who now looked like her mouth was watering.

Annalise's eyes widened. When Tegan cupped her chin and whispered "open," into her ear, she couldn't resist anymore. The slimy animal slipped into her mouth and she pulled a face at the strange structure. She swallowed it as quick as she could and let out a sharp breath as she opened her mouth again.

Tegan chuckled at the grimace on Annalise's face. "Delicious, huh?"

The older woman took a few gulps of her drink before she looked back at Tegan. "I hate you," she groaned, just before burying her face in her neck and licking at her skin playfully. Tegan gasped when she felt her mouth on her so suddenly.

Annalise grinned wide when she sat back up. "You taste a lot better."

They devoured almost all the small dishes in the bag, until they were sure that they couldn't eat anything else before exploding. Both women laid down on their backs, watching the sky slowly darken above them.

They were surrounded by the sounds of the waves crashing onto the beach and the soft blowing of the wind, and it seemed to come with some sort of magical feeling of peace that washed over them.

Annalise's head was resting on Tegan's shoulder while the Latina's hand was softly stroking through her hair.

"Annalise?" Tegan broke the silence softly.

The older woman hummed lazily, enjoying how calm Tegan's touch made her feel.

"I don't want this to end." 

Annalise let out a deep breath as she rolled onto her side and draped her arm over her stomach as she pressed her face into her neck. "Me neither."

They both kept quiet for a while, until Annalise spoke up again. "I'm so glad you gave me another chance." She lifted her head up a little to look Tegan in the eyes. "Thank you."

Tegan looked at her with a watery smile around her lips. "I'm glad I did, too. You've changed." She kissed Annalise's forehead when she laid her head back down and stroked her back softly.

Tegan was right; she had changed. So, so much. In the last two years, Annalise had learned to love herself before anyone else. She had always portrayed herself as a woman who knew her worth, and she had even made herself believe that, but being away from everything she knew had taught her that that was far from true. It had taken her a long time and a lot of therapy sessions until she had finally felt like she was ready to start her own business. This time, here was no Ophelia or Sam or Eve to hold her hand. Because even though Eve was there physically, Annalise had done this all by herself. It was _her_ office, _her_ ideas, _her_ dream.

She had learned from her past mistakes. Her current practice was based on morals rather than money or publicity. She was fed up with having to go to dangerous ends to keep guilty people out of prison. This time, she picked her clients carefully, with a strong moral compass in hand. Most of the people who came to her made below average income, but she wasn't in it for the money anymore. The feeling she'd gotten when she won that supreme court case was one that she'd been chasing ever since, and not only because it had been the highest court in the US. It had filled her up with pride because she had been fighting for a cause that would change things. And when she finally took the time to look inside, to dig into what she really wanted - as a lawyer and a person - she found that that was it. She wanted to make a change. She'd felt like a cliche immediately, because isn't that exactly what every single lawyer says? And maybe it was, maybe she had turned into a cliche, but she didn't care. She'd never felt more fulfilled.

The team she'd picked to work for her existed of ambitious, young lawyers who were fresh out of law school and wanted to do some good in the world. She wished she could say that she saw herself in them, but that still wasn't completely true. They saw the world through rose-coloured glasses that Annalise had never had the chance to look through. She did find herself learning from them, though. They made her realize that emotions aren't always bad or unprofessional. They taught her how to take the time to _feel,_ how to distance herself from her work a little more and they had told her about the importance of having a hobby. They had bought her her first recipe book and since then, she'd spend every Saturday morning baking something. She had learned just as much from them as they had from her.

"Yeah..." She breathed, as she thought about the time that had passed since they'd last seen each other. "I really have." 

Tegan caressed her cheek absentmindedly, looking up at the sky above them. "Is that also why you changed your name?"

She could hear her sigh softly and bit her lip at the sound. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it," she quickly added, not wanting to push her too much, but Annalise shook her head against her hand.

"No, it's fine. I want you to know." She repositioned herself so she was laying flat on her back right next to Tegan and took the Latina's hand in hers, fidgeting with her fingers a little.

"Yes, it was. It was just... time. That name, _Keating,_ I don't think it ever really suited me. I acted like it did, for sure, but on the inside..." She looked at Tegan's spread fingers as she ran her own along the creases. "I've always stayed a Harkness."

Tegan was silent for a second, but it didn't take long before her curiosity took over again. "So why didn't you do it earlier? Why not right after Sam passed?"

The older woman shrugged. "I'd gotten used to it, I guess. It was how people knew me: Annalise Keating." She moved her hand up in the air, as if she was imagining her name in the sky. "When I moved, I felt like I could finally start fresh. That name was drenched in memories that I didn't want to keep, so... I decided that I wasn't going to do it anymore." She looked at Tegan and smiled as she saw a small wrinkle on her forehead, indicating that she was thinking hard about what this meant. "I finally chose my own path."

Tegan's face relaxed when Annalise kissed her cheek. She rolled over to her side to face her and watched her with soft eyes. "It suits you way better."

Annalise smiled. She kissed Tegan's hand before rolling on her side, too. "It does. It feels like I can finally be... Happy. I _deserve_ to be happy. With myself, with my own name."

She bit her lip as she looked down at their intertwined fingers. "You know, until a very short while ago, I didn't think this feeling would ever come. I thought I'd spend my whole life looking for something, _longing_ for something that I couldn't have... But here I am. I think I've figured it out."

Tegan smiled widely at that declaration, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Seeing her friend like this, so honest and open, finally feeling safe enough to let her in, touched something inside of her.

"Damn right," she laughed, her voice trembling slightly as she wiped a fallen tear from her cheek.

Annalise laughed, too. She wrapped her other hand around hers as well and squeezed it softly as she pressed another kiss to the top of her hand.

"So?" Tegan whispered as she stuck out a finger to wrap around Annalise's.

The older woman stayed silent, watching her blankly, waiting for her to expand her question.

"What did you figure out? What makes you happy?"

The words were soft, only slightly more than a whisper, because Tegan didn't dare to say them any louder and their volume didn't make them any less deafening to Annalise.

She swallowed thick as she looked down, not ready to face Tegan just yet. It felt like she was about to bare her soul to her and she didn’t know if she was going to take it well. But when she finally found the courage to look up, the woman in front of her was staring at her with eyes so full of hope that she was absolutely certain, she just _knew,_ that Tegan understood.

The answer hung in the air between them, but both women were thinking it. Annalise didn't even have to say the words.

She just leaned in to press her lips to Tegan's as the words echoed in her head over and over again.

_You, Tegan. You._


	17. The Dessert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while again sorry sorry sorry
> 
> The end is near guys n gals n non binary pals! I think there are about two or three chapters left, depending on whether I'm gonna write an epilogue or not. 
> 
> Brush your teeth after this because this is too sweet to be healthy. Also there's smut so be warned.
> 
> Hope you like it!

They spent the next hour stealing kisses from each other. From short, friendly pecks to more intense, less innocent ones, and it was starting to mess with Tegan's head a little. Kissing Annalise was good, it felt safe and way too natural for the little time they had been doing it for. It made her feel warm and fuzzy and every time they broke away, she wanted nothing more than to do it again. But that feeling; the immediate longing for her touch the second after it was gone, also made her anxious. Because they only had one more day together before they would fly to opposite sides of the country.

"What are you thinking?" Annalise looked at her with a warm smile. They had just dropped off the empty food containers at the restaurant and were now strolling along the boulevard, on their way back to the hotel.

Tegan sighed. She interlaced their fingers between them and squeezed her hand. "Nothing much," she brushed it off, not wanting to spoil the evening with her worries.

But Annalise wasn't fooled that easily. "Come on, I can _hear_ your brain rattling. Just tell me."

The Latina bit her lip. "I'm-" She looked down at the ground before quickly looking up at the woman next to her. "Doesn't this feel a little surreal to you? I mean, we're in literal paradise." She moved her hand through the air, gesturing at the palmtrees next to her. "We don't have to worry about anything here. What's gonna happen when we go back home?" She didn't dare to look at the other woman anymore, so she just focused on the surroundings. There was a party going on on the beach which proved to be a nice distraction.

Annalise stayed quiet for a second. They kept taking slow, lazy steps with their hands still linked between them. Of course, she'd thought about this. It had been going through her mind all day. She'd even talked to Eve about it, who had been able to calm her down a little. "What do you _want_ to happen?"

Tegan blinked slowly, before finally facing Annalise again. "I told you. I don't want this to end." She stopped moving and turned towards Annalise to grab her other hand. "You remember when you asked me why I changed my mind? At the salsa club?"

A quick nod and a squeeze on her hand proved that she did.

"I thought I was over you. I thought I was ready to throw every last memory I had of you right in the trash-" Annalise flinched at those words and Tegan quickly bit her lip when she realized how harsh it sounded. "Sorry."

"Is okay. Go on."

"Well, I- The point is: I think I was never fully over you. I told myself I was and I even dated someone else for a while, but when I saw you again on that beach..." She stopped herself right there, before she said something that she might regret later. Something that there was no return from and that might scare Annalise off. "It's just so different with you."

Annalise smiled softly, moving a little closer to Tegan, but the shorter woman placed a hand at her chest to stop her from leaning in further. "But I can't do this again. I need to know what your plan is because I'm about to give this my _all_ and I can't do that if there's a chance I'm gonna lose you again. I can't do that, okay? I can't lose you again." Her eyes were wet when she looked back up at Annalise, her lips trembling and a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Annalise wiped it away with her thumb. She took Tegan's face in her hands and softly caressed her jaw. Tegan closed her eyes at the touch for a second, but she quickly opened them back up when she heard Annalise take a deep breath. "You're not gonna lose me," she whispered. "Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life and I'm not about to make it again." She kissed her face softly, just a gentle brush of lips against her forehead.

"I love you, Tegan."

There was a gasp. Tegan's breath hitched in her throat as her eyes grew wide. Did she really just say...?

"I love you," Annalise repeated, her voice breaking now. Tegan could clearly see her eyes glisten with moisture as her fingers slipped down her chin. She felt them grab her hand a second later. "I should have told you a long time ago, but I really hope you can forgive me because I plan on saying it a lot mo-" 

The rest of her sentence was swallowed by Tegan's mouth on hers. There was one last "oomf" and she was frozen for a short moment, but it didn't take her too long to pull the shorter woman's body even closer to her and kiss her back.

Tegan kissed her firmly, with her hands on her neck and her lips moving with purpose. It was wet with tears and filled with so much _feelings_ that it made her insides flutter wildly.

Both women were already panting when they broke the kiss.

"Forgiven," Tegan breathed through a soft laugh, and Annalise smiled wide before kissing her again.

It was nearing midnight when they stepped into the elevator. They had spent the rest of their way back walking as close to each other as physically possible, with arms wrapped around shoulders and hips and a wandering hand here and there. It had taken them twice as long as what would have been necessary if they hadn't stopped so often to share kiss after kiss.

Even now, as soon as the elevator's doors closed, Tegan had Annalise pressed against the wall and her lips back on hers. Her hands were roaming the older woman's back as the kiss deepened.

"Which floor?" Annalise asked, a little out of breath already. Tegan didn't seem to hear her. She was pressing kisses down her neck and the feeling of her mouth on her skin were making her eyes feel heavy, but she would not give in until she had an answer.

"Tegan, which floor?" She repeated, louder now.

Tegan frowned as she lifted her head. She knew that Annalise remembered where her room was, since she had picked her up from there earlier that evening, but as soon as she opened her mouth to remind her, she understood the true meaning of the question. Annalise wasn't asking because she didn't know; she wanted Tegan to _choose._ She was placing the ball in her court, letting her decide how the night would continue.

A wicked smile appeared on her face as she leaned her forehead against Annalise's. "Yours."

They entered her room with their hearts pounding in their throats. Both women were nervous, but there was also a strange sense of peace in the air. They knew what was about to happen and they were both more than ready for it. 

Annalise was taking her bag off her shoulder when she felt Tegan's hands sliding around her waist and her body pressed against her back. The bag dropped to the ground and Annalise placed her hands over Tegan's, intertwining her fingers with hers. She hummed in content when the shorter woman started kissing her neck and leaned into her touch. "Oh, hello," she said, trying to sound unsurprised and laid-back, but it came out like a nervous breath that made Tegan grin against her skin.

She was placing soft, lazy kisses down her neck while her hands were moving up and down her stomach. "Hi, baby," she whispered. 

Annalise shivered in her arms when she bit down on her earlobe. It surprised her how it didn't feel weird to hear Tegan calling her that nickname. She'd always hated it when Sam or Nate had done it, and even Eve had mostly just stuck to her first name, but with Tegan... It just felt natural and it actually made her feel sexy.

Tegan's fingers were making short work of the buttons on her blouse and she bit her lip when she felt her hands on her skin, softly running her fingertips over her stomach.

She leaned her head back and laid her hand in Tegan's neck to gently stroke through her hair.

The encouragement made Tegan smile. She moved her hands up to cup Annalise's breasts over her bra whilst sucking on her pulsepoint before slowly running her tongue over her collarbone.

Annalise gasped. This woman knew exactly what she was doing. She was pressing just the right buttons to get into Annalise's head, and even more so; her pants. She turned around in Tegan's arms and shook the blouse off her shoulders in the process.

Tegan watched it drop to the ground and licked her lips as she looked back up. Her eyes were just taking in the newly exposed skin when Annalise pulled her in for another kiss. Tegan's hands were on her back the seconds their lips touched and she was guiding her backwards towards the bed, until her legs hit the mattress.

They broke the kiss when Annalise sat down on the bed. She looked up at Tegan while biting her lip, her eyes on hers dark and hot, and her hands already reaching for Tegan again.

The Latina, however, held up a finger to shush her and flashed her a grin. "Patience, Annalise," she warned her playfully as she turned around, turning her back towards her. "Untie me first."

Annalise leaned forward, trying to loosen the knot in Tegan's dress with everything she had, but that proves to be more difficult than she thought. Her fingers were not as skillful as she thought they would be and the way they were trembling from the anticipation wasn't really helping eiher. "This fucking-"

There was a delicate hand on hers, putting her to a stop. "Patience," Tegan repeated, her voice husky and low.

Annalise let out a deep breath and finally managed to untie the knot. The top of her dress dropped down to her front and she pulled it over her hips right after. Tegan stepped out of it as soon as it hit the ground and turned around, already feeling her cheeks heat up from Annalise's eyes all over her body.

When Annalise reached out for her again, she let herself be pulled onto her lap, her knees on both sides of Annalise's legs. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip for a moment, before she pressed them to Annalise's in a soft, sweet kiss. "See?" Another kiss. "If you're patient..." She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, before sending it flying through the air. "You're gonna get rewarded."

The older woman's mouth went dry. She ran her hands up Tegan's back before resting them on her shoulders and taking a look at her exposed breasts. She swallowed thick at the sight. Her nipples stood proud in the cool air and she looked like she was designed by a proper Renaissance painter.

"Fuck, I want you." She wrapped her arms around Tegan's upper body and flipped her around, laying her down onto her back gently before leaning over her, pressing her mouth to hers in a deep kiss. She took her lower lip between her teeth and pulled at it softly, which made Tegan gasp.

She'd expected Annalise to be like this: greedy and eager to touch her in every way she'd let her, but she was a little surprised by the way it made her feel. The way Annalise was looking at her, as if she was the most precious being in the world, with her pupils dilated and her mouth half open, made Tegan's heart rush. She felt it down to her core. It was nice to be wanted - worshipped, almost, in this case - especially since it came from a woman who she'd pined after for so long. The woman who she'd always had a weak spot for, which turned out to be reciprocated. Because this woman _loved her._

They pulled away from the kiss to catch some air and the sounds of heavy breathing made them both smilde. "Tell me again," Tegan said, softly caressing Annalise's cheek with her fingertips as she looked her face up and down.

A frown appeared on Annalise's forehead, not knowing what she was referring to, but it quickly ebbed away when she saw the look in Tegan's eyes. She smiled warmly, took her face into her hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

Tegan shivered. She closed her eyes when Annalise started kissing her face, her neck and she bit her lip when she moved further down.

"I love you," Annalise whispered against the valley between her breasts, while her hands slid down to her sides. Tegan arched her back, pressing her breasts up into her face and then her mouth started exploring, licking and kissing and sucking wherever she could reach.

The soft moans that fell from Tegan's lips were making her insides weaken. Annalise was taking a nipple into her mouth, while she slowly rolled the other between her fingers and Tegan was running her hand through her hair.

"I love you," she repeated once more as she lifted up her head. She looked at her through her lashes, her fingers still casually toying with hardened nipples. "Let me show you how much."

Tegan took a deep breath. She ran her hand through Annalise's hair again, before pulling her in for a kiss. "Yes," she breathed against her lips. "Fuck yes, show me, baby."

Annalise grinned when she heard the whimper in Tegan's voice. She pressed kisses all over her face, down her neck, over her breasts, biting down softly at the skin around her nipples, and then finally made her way down further.

Tegan tried to relax when she felt Annalise's hot breath on her lower abdomen, but dark skinned fingers were running down the insides of her thighs and she couldn't help the spasm that it caused all over her body.

Annalise's fingers were shortly followed by her lips, kissing all over the younger woman's upper legs, before softly pressing them to the already damp fabric of her panties. She took the lace between her teeth and pulled, only to let it snap back against her skin seconds later. She smiled when she heard Tegan let out a sharp gasp and decided not to make her wait any longer.

Her fingers hooked around the sheer fabric and pulled the garment down her legs. She licked her lips when she saw the wetness glistening on her folds. "God, you're beautiful," she groaned, before hooking her hands around her legs and pressing her mouth to her center.

Tegan let out a shuddering breath when she felt her tongue run through her slit. There were soft kisses all over her folds and she didn't waste any time in letting her tongue explore. The Latina threw her head back, grasping the sheets between her fingers when she felt Annalise licking where she needed her most.

Her lips wrapped around the small bundle of nerves as she ran her tongue over it countless times, making Tegan moan and squirm underneath her.

Annalise was eating her out like she was the last meal on Earth and Tegan was _not_ ready for it. She sighed loudly when she felt a finger enter her, without the attack on her clit even slightly faltering. Annalise's free hand was wrapped around her hip, trying to keep her in place when she arched her back off the mattress, pressing herself even more firmly onto her skillful mouth.

A second finger joined the first and it made Tegan's eyes roll back inside her head. Annalise was pressing them against the spot that made Tegan's legs spasm involuntarily with every move. She was fucking her without mercy, feasting on the juices that ran over her tongue and the sounds of pleasure that filled the room.

Tegan let the moans fall from her lips freely. Only a few minutes went by before she felt her muscles starting to tighten.

Annalise felt it, too. She kept her movements going as she looked up at the younger woman's face through her lashes, finding her with her eyes shut tight and her mouth wide open, her hands grabbing at the sheets with stretched arms. Annalise's fingers were hitting her sweet spot with every single thrust, while her mouth was wrapped firmly around her clit and she couldn't hold back any longer.

When she came, it felt like her nerves were on fire. She couldn't control the bucking of her hips anymore and let herself go completely. She fell back against the mattress as she let out a long, low moan.

Annalise kept her fingers moving slowly. She smiled against her and pressed soft kisses on the insides of her thighs, until the younger woman's legs had stopped spasming and she could feel her muscles relax.

"Fuck, Annalise..." Tegan hand dropped down onto the sheets while the woman between her legs was pressing kisses up her stomach. Her lips travelled upwards again, circling her bellybutton and across her chest, until she finally pressed them against Tegan's in a sweet kiss that she immediately deepened. The shorter woman licked into her mouth and closed her eyes when she tasted herself. "That was fucking hot," she whispered, making Annalise hum in agreement.

"You taste so good, baby." Tegan felt her softly biting at the skin in her neck and blushed at the words, before rolling over onto her side as well to finally look her in the eyes.

Annalise smiled when she felt her still laboured breath hit her face. Their foreheads were almost touching, and they were basically sharing the same air. She loved being so close to Tegan, but it also gave her the opportunity to see the small frown forming on Tegan's forehead from up close. There was something in her eyes, something that made her feel nervous and at ease at the same time and she was just about to break the silence between them to ask her about it when Tegan beat her to it.

"I love you, too."

Annalise gasped. That was not what she was expecting. Sure, she hoped that Tegan felt the same, but she'd decided that she would give Tegan all the time she needed to figure out what she was feeling exactly. Yet here they were. The words were out and Annalise was looking at Tegan with her eyes wide open.

Tegan chuckled at the surprised look on her face. She hadn't expected to tell her right now, either, but something about this moment pulled it out of her. She didn't regret it for a second, though. Not when it made Annalise look at her like she had just won the fucking jackpot and it was a hundred percent true anyway.

She leaned in a little and Annalise closed the distance between them, kissing her with everything she had. When they broke apart, her eyes were glistening with tears. "You're not just saying that because I made you come, right?" She clarified, making Tegan laugh softly before she pushed at the older woman's shoulder, rolling her onto her back so she could lean over her.

"Well, it did help..." 

Annalise laughed through her nose. She smiled widely against Tegan's lips and pulled her on top of her. "Well, I'm happy to do it again." Her thumb brushed over the other woman's cheek lovingly. "I could eat you out all night," she grinned, even though she was pretty sure she wasn't joking.

Tegan raised her eyebrows, her eyes twinkling as she placed her knees on either sides of her hips. "Even after all that food?" 

She was pressing soft kisses all over her face, so she clearly heard her whisper, "There's always room for dessert."

Tegan grinned against her skin. She lifted her head up to hover above her as her hands slipped around her back to unhook the older woman's bra. "Must be the oyster," she declared teasingly as she pulled the straps over her arms. 

Annalise had opened her mouth to say something else, but at that moment Tegan's lips wrapped around a nipple and her fingers were pulling at the zipper on her shorts and all that came out was a sigh of pleasure. This woman knew exactly what buttons to press and there was nothing she could do about it. 


End file.
